Mono no Aware
by Saranel
Summary: <html><head></head>As a Shinigami, he was taught to respect the cycle of life and death. As a scientist, he learned to accept the transience of all things subject to inevitable entropy and decay. As a man, he fought to hold on to the few constants in his ever-shifting world. An Urahara & Yoruichi character study, from childhood to the end of the Fake Karakura Town arc.</html>
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Bleach or any of its trademark characters. This story contains spoilers all the way to the end of the Fake Karakura Town arc.

**A/N: **Catching up on Bleach has rekindled my interest in fanfiction, but I've been away from the fandom long enough to have forgotten some things about the universe. I've used as much canon information as I could find about Kisuke and Yoruichi's past and filled in the gaps myself, but I may have missed something. If you notice any mistakes, please point them out so they can be edited, if possible. Any other CC is greatly appreciated.

The way I've planned this story out, it should cover about 20 chapters or so, exploring Kisuke and Yoruichi's life from childhood to the end of the Fake Karakura Town arc. The format of every chapter, as of the moment, is meant to be an intro from the human world where Kisuke was exiled to, followed by flashbacks to past events (a little like LOST, for those of you familiar with the series). This may change in the future if I think the pacing of a chapter is better served by past events only, but either way, every scene will be prefaced by a datestamp to avoid any confusion.

Since I'm still catching up on the more recent manga events myself, I'm a little hazy on newer storylines, and Aizen's defeat is a good enough point to end this story as it provides ample closure on what we know of Kisuke's life. There's a rumor going around that the current manga arc might even be Bleach's last, so here's hoping I can churn these out fast enough before Tite Kubo goes ahead and reveals enough backstory to make this irrelevant before it's even complete.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>

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><p><em>.<em>

_**FEBRUARY 21**__**ST**__**, 1901 A.D., KARAKURA TOWN, JAPAN**_

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A few miles off the outskirts of Tokyo, in the small settlement of Karakura, the abandoned two-story building stood out within the bustling town like a ghostly remnant of the Edo Period. In the few decades it had taken for Karakura to turn from a poor farmland to a slowly developing industrial hub, the abandoned house hadn't changed one bit. As if frozen in time, it forever reminded the citizens of a past not too long gone. If asked, any man, woman or child in Karakura would insist the building had been left alone due to complications with ownership. After all, superstitions and a belief in fables did not become of a people whose country was galloping forward into the new century.

Even so, Koizumi Haruka gave the building a wide berth as she strolled back home after a visit to the marketplace. It seemed to be the natural inclination of every other resident or passer-by in their neighborhood, but if she was being honest with herself, she often felt drawn to it instead. The legends surrounding the house were the kind of thing never discussed openly in the presence of company, yet somehow, every single citizen, old or new, seemed to be all too familiar with them. Her own family had moved into the house right across a scant two weeks ago, and they already knew more than enough. The young girl realized that dwelling on the matter was an exercise in futility; despite her keen desire to plough into the mysteries of the house, she knew herself well enough to be certain she would never set foot anywhere near it.

Still, she could never resist a look at its windows every now and then as she settled into bed. From time to time, she thought she could make out shadows moving behind the dirty, opaque glass.

On such nights, her dreams were filled with piercing, agonized howls and the soundless fluttering of black butterflies.

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**mono no aware **物の哀れ

(n.) (phr.) lit. "the pathos of things"; the

gentle wistfulness at the transience of

things, and the awareness of the sadness

of existence

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_**APRIL 3**__**RD**__**, 1901 A.D., KARAKURA TOWN, JAPAN**_

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Urahara Kisuke ran his fingers down the murky surface of the second-story window, drawing a path of three parallel streaks. Through the clear slits of glass, he peered down into the empty street outside. The front door of the house right across theirs opened, revealing who Kisuke assumed was the youngest daughter of the family that had recently moved into the neighborhood. Rubbing her hands against her folded arms, the girl made her way out into the porch, lighting the few lanterns hanging from the canopy. As she hurried back inside and out of the cold and the rain, she paused for a second by the threshold, looked once over her shoulder, then closed the door behind her.

It had to be some sort of cosmic joke, he mused, the appearance of this family only days after he and his fellow travelers had settled into the abandoned building. In a town otherwise devoid of spiritual sentience, the girl was the only one with a fleck of sensitivity for their kind. He knew she was unable to see them; in fact, he'd tested that theory himself, but her awareness seemed to grow in miniscule increments every day. He had no way of being certain if she would ever reach a level that might pose any threat to them, but by then, their preparations to deal with humans face-to-face should be long done. The only question was whether her powers would draw the attention of a Hollow in the future, thus raising the need for the presence of Death Gods in the area.

For her sake as well as theirs, he hoped the day they had to leave their new home would never come.

Well… Perhaps the word 'home' was somewhat of a stretch.

The two-story house was simply the first available shelter they'd found that night. At least that's what he'd led everyone else to believe. Kisuke had had some initial reservations about his choice of Karakura, but he opted to keep them to himself. When the Thirteen Divisions came after them, they would undoubtedly consider checking all the places Kisuke was familiar with first, and Karakura had been one of his first assignments in the human world. This building in particular faced the backyard where he'd defeated one of his first Hollows. His choice had less to do with any sentimental reasons, and more to do with the simple fact that this was the one place in the human world he knew best of all. He had enough faith in his inventions to cloak them from any unwanted visitors from Soul Society, and he figured that hiding exactly where everyone expected him to be would be seen as counter-intuitive for someone like him.

Still, there were those in Soul Society who understood him well enough to be able to call his bluff. One person in particular came to mind. However, Kisuke had the distinct impression Aizen simply wouldn't bother pursuing him, at least for the time being. So far, he appeared to be right in his assessment.

In the two months since their escape from Soul Society, their base of operations hadn't changed much. Tessai's barriers made certain to conceal all light and mute any sounds to the outside world; keeping up the appearance of an abandoned building was paramount, but none of them seemed to be willing to put any effort into improving the interior. Save from the one room upstairs where they slept and shared their meals, the remainder of the house was in a sorry state. The floors and scant furnishings were still covered in a thick veil of dust, and the only spots that had been given the slightest amount of attention were a few broken windows and cracks in the floor which had to be sealed to keep the cold at bay.

Maybe they were all hoping this was only a temporary hiding place.

Hearing the floorboards creak behind him, Kisuke tore his gaze away from the rain-pelted street and looked over his shoulder. Hirako was approaching him, adjusting the sash of his drab, light grey kimono. It had been nearly a month now that he had become stable, but Kisuke still never failed to feel relief at the sight of his normal face. "How does it fit?" Kisuke asked him, referring to the clothes.

Securing period-appropriate clothing and footwear for all of them had been a monster of a task, but Tessai had delivered. All ten kimono and black haori were identical in color and shape, making Kisuke wonder briefly just where Tessai had unearthed them from. They only differed in size and Kisuke's was a little snug around the shoulders, but otherwise perfectly passable.

Hirako shrugged at the question, running his palms over the starchy material at the front. "It'll do. Now, the body is another story…" he said with a grimace, holding up his own right hand and inspecting it from all possible angles.

Kisuke turned around to face him fully, leaning against the one spot in the wall behind him that wasn't cobweb-infested. "That's to be expected. It's when it starts feeling a little too comfortable that you should worry. Leaving a gigai when you're too attuned to it will not be pleasant," he said.

"Well, it's done everything you promised it would," Hirako said, giving his hand a shake and letting it fall to his side. "I didn't come here to complain about it, anyway," he said. For a moment, he hesitated before speaking again. "Listen, Kisuke—"

"You're going," Kisuke finished for him, having expected this conversation for a while now. There was no rancor in his voice as he said it, but he couldn't deny their company would be missed. This wasn't a reality any of them would be getting used to any time soon, and being surrounded by familiar faces, especially friends, had made the transition a little easier to take. Still, he could see why they were choosing to leave. Despite every piece of their former selves they'd been able to hold on to, they were different now. They needed to find their own place in the world, and commiserating about their collective status as exiles would benefit no-one. A separation was imminent and there was no need to prolong it.

"Yeah," Hirako said. "Might as well, right? Was bound to happen at one point or another."

Kisuke simply nodded, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Are you leaving Karakura?"

"Probably," Hirako said, his eyes shifting toward the room where the rest of his companions sat, already packed to leave at a moment's notice by the looks of it. None of them were speaking to each other, nor were they making eye-contact. "Might wander for a while, see what's out there."

Kisuke's eyes fell upon Hiyori. For such a petite person, she had never looked her size in all the time they'd spent together. Her bristly demeanor and no-nonsense attitude tended to make others overlook the height difference. Tonight, she looked truly small for the first time in all the nine years he'd known her. "How's… How's Hiyori?" he asked, swallowing hard.

Hirako scoffed at the sound of that. "As if she'd ever tell me. But you know her; she'll be fine."

Kisuke let out a sigh and nodded again, slowly letting his head fall back against the wall. "I guess."

"Hey, none o' that crap," Hirako said, suddenly reaching out and grasping the front of Kisuke's clothes, forcing them to lock gazes again. "Don't go blaming yourself for this. Don't you _dare_."

Kisuke shook his head, feeling the ridiculous urge to break into hysterical laughter. "You warned me," he said, looking at Hirako without really seeing him.

It had taken sixty one days, but their reality had finally, truly hit him, now that there was no mystery to solve or a project to sink his teeth in. Even in that respect, he'd failed spectacularly. For once, he had no answers. The vaccine he'd administered back in Soul Society had stopped the change, but the only progress they'd been able to make since then was suppress their inner Hollows, and there was no telling how long that would last. Without the materials and equipment in his lab, he could do nothing more for them. They were stuck, all of them, in a world where the available resources and technology might never catch up to their needs.

Had they really been so naïve as to think they could escape Soul Society forever? And even if they did, what next? Panic surging out of him, Kisuke was unable to contain his laughter anymore. Exiled, alone, hunted by a force which not only outnumbered them, but had the resources to outmaneuver them as well. And still no sign of Yoruichi. It felt like he was being held down underwater, his arms paralyzed, Aizen's face looming over the surface of the water. _How_? How had he not seen? How had he not—

"You warned me," Kisuke repeated. "You _told_ me he was up to something. _Years _ago," he said. "And I… I knew… I've known, ever since he was a kid, that something—"

Hirako let go of Kisuke, frowning. "Yeah, well… I wasn't exactly prepared for this, either. So I guess it's on both of us."

Running a hand through his hair, Kisuke let out a few final, hollow chuckles, trying to regain his composure.

"Which is why," Hirako went on. "When you get around to paying that son-of-a-bitch back, I want in."

That effectively sobered Kisuke up. His entire body went stiff, as he and Hirako shared a look that conveyed enough without any need to speak. Kisuke hadn't said a word or even _thought_ about revenge ever since they'd arrived at the human world. There had simply been no time to focus on anything other than working on reversing Hollowification. In the precious few moments in between rest and work, his thoughts had never strayed away from the one person whose absence was becoming not only unbearable, but more and more worrisome every day. And yet, when Hirako spat out the words, his eyes darkening, Kisuke realized that paying Aizen back for every life he'd destroyed had always been a given. He hadn't even considered it, because there was never any doubt in his mind that Aizen would get what was coming to him, sooner or later.

It was a fool's hope, perhaps. It had been only a moment ago that he'd truly taken a look at their situation and nearly crumbled, but something in Hirako's voice instilled a little warmth into Kisuke's cold insides. He'd promised them all, hadn't he, that he'd find a way?

_A fool's hope, no doubt._

"You bet…" Kisuke said, feeling his face break into a smile for the first time since leaving Soul Society. "…Shinji."

Hirako let out a groan, shaking his head at him. "_Nine_. _Years_. Nine _damn_ years of hearing your sorry ass call me Hirako even when you were drunk as a skunk, and _now_ you call me Shinji? _Bastard._"

They shared a moment of pure, unadulterated laughter, the first not to be brought on by hysteria. It felt like catharsis. Like the beginning of something, rather than a goodbye.

The exchange drew the attention of everyone else as well. It wasn't often that any sound other that sighs of frustration echoed through these walls, as the eight former Death Gods came up against wall after wall in their efforts to reverse the Hollowification process. The haphazardly-built room below the foundations of the building held an equally grim aura; Kisuke hadn't had the heart to expand it, both because it was too much of a reminder of his previous life, and because it had been tainted by the wraithlike wails of his friends, during their struggle to master themselves and tame their inner Hollows. The mere notion of laughter in this house of despair was outlandish enough, let alone the actual deed, and it turned the heads of Hirako's companions.

Hiyori in particular gave both of them her signature displeased grimace and got up, making her way over to them. "What are you two idiots laughing about?" she asked, resting a hand on her hip. "Go on, spit it out. We could all use a laugh; it's been like a cemetery in here for ages."

Kisuke turned to look at her, now understanding that their time together was limited; if he waited until he was able to pluck up the courage to approach her first, she would leave before he got the chance to say everything he'd been meaning to tell her. "Hey, Hirako—" Kisuke said.

"Ugh, _seriously_? It's back to Hirako now?"

Kisuke grinned at him. "Can I have a moment?" He motioned toward Hiyori with his head.

The scowl left Hirako's face, only to be replaced with a softer expression, one Kisuke wouldn't have associated with him before. "Yeah, sure. Take all the time you want," he said, sauntering away to give him and Hiyori some privacy.

"If I hear anything sappy leave your mouth, I'm outta here," Hiyori was quick to say the second Hirako left, glaring at Kisuke.

He hadn't really thought about this until now, but Kisuke suddenly realized this was the first time they'd spoken a word to each other since he'd asked Hiyori to go help the Ninth Division in his stead.

_"Sorry, you're the only one I can trust with this."_

_"I'm counting on you, Hiyori."_

Hirako had told him not to blame himself, but how could he not, when it came to Hiyori? Yoruichi's admonitions rang in his head even as he felt the guilt bubble up to the surface again. It was true, Hiyori was more than capable of taking care of herself, but these had been special circumstances and he should have seen it.

"Hiyori…" he began, his gaze slipping down toward the floor. Saying what he needed to say with her looking at him, seeing right through him, was impossible. "I—"

"If you'd gone yourself, none of us would be alive today," Hiyori said, interrupting him.

Kisuke's eyes shot right back at her in shock. Was he that transparent?

Hiyori let out a sigh. "What, you think I hadn't figured it out?" she said, looking smug. It was the first change in her darkened expression since they'd stepped foot in the human world. "You've been giving me puppy eyes for two months now, looking away whenever I caught you staring. It wasn't hard to guess what was going on in that thing of yours you call a brain."

The silence between them stretched out, Kisuke unsure of what to say next as he gave her a reluctant smile. He could count his true friends in the palm of a single hand and out of all of them, she had been the hardest one to win over. She needed her time, Hiyori did, but if one bothered to put in the effort, she would be loyal for life. She hadn't once proven him wrong yet, not even now, when she had every right to. Kisuke opened his mouth to speak, but swallowed his words right back when he saw the threatening expression on Hiyori's face. She'd given him ample warning; he was not allowed to veer into sappy territory. So, instead of saying what he meant to, instead of a goodbye, he said, "Will you guys stay for dinner? Tessai is making ramen."

Hiyori shrugged, looking away. Kisuke had to wonder if part of her hadn't been longing for some sappiness, after all. "What's he even making it with? There hasn't been any fresh meat in the market for days."

"I suppose we'll find out soon enough," Kisuke said, shrugging as well.

"Are you trying to poison us?" Hiyori asked, meeting his gaze again, eyes narrowed.

"Well… if it'll keep you here a little longer…" Kisuke trailed off, grinning at her.

He saw her lips purse together, trembling ever so slightly. Her face flushed to a brilliant shade of red and she had to look away once more. "If I get so much as a whiff of rat, I'm killing both you and Tessai," she muttered, marching her way back to their makeshift bedroom. "You first. Slowly. With a rusty knife."

Smiling at her departing form, Kisuke leaned back against the wall. Speaking to Hirako and Hiyori had been something he'd been dreading for a long while. Part of him had known all along that the moment this temporary fellowship was over, he would lose all momentum and allow the reality of their situation to sink in. Their departure would be the final nail in the coffin Aizen had thrust him into: a reminder of his failure to save two of his closest friends and many dear colleagues. It shamed him to realize that out of their whole group, he was the only one who had almost fallen to pieces, while also being the one who had been affected the least. If he truly meant to keep his promise to Hirako, he could not allow another meltdown like this.

_All right. You can have tonight, _he told himself. _Just for tonight, after everyone is gone and Tessai asleep, you can wallow in self-pity. Let it all out, sink into the deepest, darkest hole and then, in the morning, claw your way out again. Make a plan. Solve the problem piece by piece. Keep your promise._

Turning to face the window again, Kisuke watched the rain fall across the rooftops of the neighboring houses. It was a strange little world, this human realm. Unravelling its secrets while encumbered by the limitations of this body would be a challenge, if nothing else. He wondered what it would be like, standing under the rain. Even the simple act of breathing was a learning experience, his mind getting accustomed to the new way he experienced sensations. Every sound, every scent felt like a cheap facsimile, a distant echo of what it had once been, as though he were trapped under a thick membrane that dulled his senses.

They could not begin to imagine, humans, what it felt like to smell power, hear colors, see the forces of the universe at play with their own eyes.

He closed his eyes, sighing. Would he ever hear it again? The otherworldly cry of the Hell Butterfly? Would he ever feel it again? The intimate touch of two spirit essences, intertwined in harmony?

_Yoruichi…_

"LORD URAHARA!"

Kisuke's head whipped around towards the sound of Tessai's voice, his hand reaching for his blade instinctively. There was a loud rush of footsteps as Tessai ran up to the second floor and burst through the door, panting.

Hirako and his companions stepped out of the bedroom, all sharing identical expressions of alarm.

"They found us?" Hiyori asked, looking scared but determined not to go down without a fight.

Tessai shook his head, trying to catch his breath. He turned to look at Kisuke and addressed him and him alone. "I think… I think it's her."

Kisuke felt his breath freeze into his lungs, eyes widening. Without pausing for a single beat, he looked outside the window again, searching frantically for a sign, _any_ sign that she had finally come. And there she was; a black cat trotting down the muddy path under the rain. She raised her head, taking in her surroundings, until her golden eyes moved over towards the window he was standing behind. The barrier would keep him invisible, but she must have been able to sense it. He watched as she held her gaze on that spot for a moment, then started moving towards the building.

He was never even aware of doing it. All Kisuke knew was that one second he was in his synthetic body, and the next he wasn't, his white captain's haori rippling behind him as he sprinted across the room.

"Oi! Kisuke, wait! Don't!" Hirako yelled, making a move to stop him even though he must've belatedly realized it was futile. He struggled for a second, trying to leave his own gigai, before Tessai placed a firm hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

Kisuke's spiritual body glided right through them as he jumped, coming to a stop at the landing right outside the door. Chest heaving, he waited for a hint of movement, eyes trained on the broken window by the front door downstairs. After a moment of stillness, nothing but the rain disrupting the absolute silence in the house, Kisuke heard the soft pattering of small footsteps outside on the porch. A slim shadow squeezed through the broken window, landing inside the house in a small puff of dust, and then a pair of yellow eyes peered at him through the darkness.

When the shadow began to grow, Kisuke released the breath he had been holding since Tessai first told him he had seen her. _No, not really. I've been holding my breath for sixty one days now_.

As he broke into a run, thundering down the steps, he saw the bright silver sheen of a new barrier encircle the house. He would have to thank Tessai later; the barrier masking their spiritual presence could only do so for a short time before it became detectable, but even a few seconds would be enough.

The moment Kisuke made it downstairs, a slender figure stepped out of the darkness, arms held out, and he crashed into her, enveloping her trembling body in a tight embrace, afraid she would vanish if he didn't hold on hard enough. Yoruichi buried her face into the crook of his neck, her hands clawing at his back, digging into his hair.

Their lips sought one another, and as Kisuke closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of rain and _her_, for the very first time, the run-down house felt like home.

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><p><strong>.<strong>

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><p><strong>AN:** On a brief first note, I've noticed the series is a little inconsistent when it comes to spirits interacting with matter. Sometimes they pass through walls, other times they destroy everything in their wake. I'll assume the natural state is to affect matter, but spirits can pass their way through when they will themselves to.

Secondly, I'll share some thoughts I have on the use of gigai with you. If you're only interested in how I plan to handle it in the story, just skip straight to the last two paragraphs.

Thinking about gigai mechanics in Bleach makes my head hurt. Okay, so, there's this invention that acts as a vessel for a Shinigami's soul and makes them visible to humans. Simple. But when you start thinking about Kisuke, things get _very_ confusing. We know he used a gigai for at least _some_ time in exile and it masks his spirit force. But whenever we see him fight, it's always in his normal outfit, never Shinigami/Captain robes. All right, so… he…. bought the same… 'spirit clothes' as the stuff his gigai wears…? (lawl) Either that, or he found a way to allow gigais some limited use of Shinigami powers. Which works, considering Rukia can use Kidou when in her gigai. But then if the gigai is limited, why did he rush into important battles (ie Yammy and later on Aizen) looking like he always does? Not even an ultra special gigai makes sense here, as he'd want his full powers. Spirit clothes are starting to sound pretty good right about now, aren't they? _

But wait! What about Yoruichi? I _think_ she was only seen by spiritually-sensitive humans and Shinigami as a cat, and in the end of the pendulum arc, she hints that she can 'escape on her own,' which must mean that her cat form suppresses her spirit force. But after the Soul Society arc she's in her regular form in Karakura town, so Kisuke must've made a gigai for her. But again, she fights in her regular outfit…? Which is the clothes she first recovered in… Soul Society? (I'm telling ya, it's friggin' spirit clothes) So is she in a gigai when in Karakura, or….? But wait! Doesn't Kisuke also tell Rukia she shouldn't align with her gigai too well, or it'll be hell when she leaves it? She's only in a gigai for a few months, while he's been using his non-stop (that we know of) for a hundred years! Surely anyone who knows this would make certain not to use his gigai unless he absolutely had to, but then how does he counter that problem if his gigai is the only thing keeping him hidden? ARGHHHHHHHH!

Obviously, this is a plot hole and whenever there's an Important Battle™ going on where Kisuke and Yoruichi are involved, we're meant to assume they're in spirit form, since they wouldn't want to be seen by humans and would want to be in full powers mode. Tibe Kubo probably just thought ol' Sandal-Hat and Cat Lady just wouldn't look the same without their fabulous outfits, so he handwaved this, or simply didn't think the mechanics through.

But it still bugs the hell out of me, so this is what I'm going with: When Kisuke designed his ten special gigai before escaping, he predicted the need to use at least _some_ powers in the human world and implemented said feature in his design. Later on, he created one for Yoruichi as well. Do _not_ ask me where he found the components to build them or ANY of his inventions early on in the human world! He just…. DID, okay?! He used SCIENCE, there (kidding aside, I _am_ actually going to explore this soon enough). So yes, special gigai for himself, the visored, Yoruichi and Tessai (Jinta and Ururu are another headache for another time) which allow the use of _some_ Shinigami powers and still conceal their spirit essence. Later on in the manga, Aizen's treachery has already been revealed, so even though Soul Society didn't exactly shake hands with Kisuke and Yoruichi, they didn't seem to be considered traitors anymore. It's never acknowledged openly, but they do work together, so at this point, I'm assuming they still use their gigais to interact with humans when needed, but can freely change into their actual forms (wearing spirit clothes!) without fearing the sudden presence of their essences will trigger alarms all over Soul Society.

As for how Kisuke keeps from aligning with his gigai too much, I do have an explanation, but this is getting way too long already, so it'll be mentioned in a future chapter when appropriate. WALL OF TEXT OVER.


	2. Ch1: The House of the Four Maples

**DISCLAIMER:** Anything you recognize ain't mine.

**A/N: **In Episode 2 of _'Author tries not to have meltdown when attempting to make sense of in-universe concepts,'_ we shall cover children and aging. Since there doesn't seem to be any official statement (other than the fact that aging happens slowly for entities with high spiritual power), I made up my own rules.

**The** **TL;DR version**

**Kids:** Possible, but somewhat rare, which is why the nobles are so uptight about lineage, among other things. **Age:** Usually a 1:10 ratio (1 human year for every 10 soul years), but from a certain point after adulthood (age 20 appearance-wise, 200 in actual years), aging slows down dramatically. For more details on how I came to this conclusion, look to the author's notes at the end.

In the datestamps for past events, I use the abbreviation B.H.I. (Before Hollowification Incident) to give you an idea of the timeframe that's being described. I will be using Kisuke and Yoruichi's POVs almost exclusively. This chapter is going to be one of the few exceptions, since I thought Kisuke's mother was better suited to narrate the past events. In the future, any different POV will most likely be limited to single scenes here and there.

A brief note on the alias Kisuke uses in this chapter: Kanzaki is an actual Japanese surname, but as a joke, Kisuke spells it an unusual way. Instead of the kanji for 'mind, soul' which is read 'kan,' he uses the kanji for 'sweet,' also read 'kan.' Basically, it's meant to be a two-level pun: the preferred kanji for his name is a hint at what he actually is (a soul masked as a human), while the use of 'sweet' (the adjective, not the candy) refers to his new identity as a candy shop owner. This is the point where I should warn you that while I do study Japanese, I'm novice enough to not have a clue if what I just pulled is even allowed. Still, while brainstorming for his alias, I tried to play around with some kanji and this amused me, plus it seemed like the kind of thing he would do. His first name, Makoto, means sincerity (lawl).

The description of the Shihouin estate is heavily based on Himeji Castle. Look it up if you're not familiar with it; it's one seriously gorgeous piece of architecture and history.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 1: The House of the Four Maples<strong>

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_**MAY 4**__**TH**__**, 1901 A.D., KARAKURA TOWN, JAPAN**_

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The month that followed Yoruichi's arrival in Karakura brought upon many drastic changes in their lives.

Their fervent reunion on the night of her return had been the first (and likely last) public acknowledgement of their relationship. Kisuke knew it hadn't been a secret for at least a few of their company, but if the rest felt confused or in any way uncomfortable by the reveal, they showed no such indication and simply welcomed Yoruichi as another member of their team. It had been a joyous evening, and not only for Kisuke. The warm meal and the revelation of Yoruichi's cat form to the stunned audience put any and all news she had on hold, creating an atmosphere more suited to an outing with friends, than an underground meeting of a destitute, exiled group of eleven.

The eight former Death Gods, now calling themselves the Visored, ended up staying two days longer than planned. On the morning after her return, Yoruichi, curled on the floor next to Kisuke's lap, informed them of everything that had happened in Soul Society during their two month long absence. In the hours after Kisuke and Tessai's escape from the Central 46 Compound, the Thirteen Divisions had razed the ground of Soul Society in search of them and their unidentified rescuer. No stone had been left unturned in either Rukongai or the Court of Pure Souls. Yoruichi's own name didn't get involved until her absence became apparent and the two incidents were connected. She remained in cat form for the remainder of her stay in Soul Society, hidden in the –still undiscovered- training grounds and venturing outside at night to gather intelligence.

When it became clear that they had left the spiritual realm, Soul Society turned its attention to the human world, starting by every destination Yoruichi and Kisuke had ever been assigned to, as Kisuke himself had predicted. As far as Yoruichi had been able to tell from various conversations, the hunt soon spread to nearby towns in Japan, but it hadn't lasted long. Once their trail had gone completely cold, Soul Society decided not to pursue the matter any further and waste valuable resources. They did, however, install a defense mechanism in place, in case he ever returned. Kisuke was more than a little amused to find out the device was Mayuri's brainchild, designed to kill him on sight. Yoruichi hadn't been able to get any more details, but Kisuke was certain poison had to be involved.

In the aftermath of what was now referred to as The Hollowification Incident, the Thirteen Divisions were in a state of disarray. Kisuke was surprised to hear that there were those who questioned both the night's events and the proceedings that followed, remarking on the lack of a proper trial or investigation before a sentence had been passed. As it turned out, there had been quite a few of their erstwhile peers who had voiced concerns, at least to the Captain-Commander. Kisuke was more than a little touched to hear that some of those who protested the loudest belonged in his own former Division. Still, with no other culprit in sight and Aizen's alibi iron-clad, both he and his two accomplishes avoided any shred of suspicion. The moment Yoruichi revealed Aizen had been named the new captain of the Fifth Division and Ichimaru Gin his Lieutenant, Hirako left the room, silent but visibly distraught. He didn't return until nearly an hour later, looking like he was in control of himself again, but Kisuke could still see an edge of burning rage in his eyes.

After answering as many questions as she possibly could, Yoruichi finished her story by detailing her own departure. Once matters had settled down and the fugitive hunt had been called off, she had waited for nightfall and then made her way to the official Senkaimon Gate. She had neutralized the sentries standing on guard, and was then able to open the gate according to Tessai's instructions and escape to Karakura, where she and Kisuke had agreed to meet beforehand.

With Yoruichi's tale coming to an end, things returned to their former pace. That very night, under cover of darkness, the Visored left Karakura. There was an unspoken agreement between them all not to say any goodbyes, but it didn't make the parting any easier. Shaking Hirako's hand, Kisuke said no more than ask him to keep in touch. As the eight companions walked away, Hiyori looked over her shoulder once, locking gazes with Kisuke. She paused only for a second, gave him a nod, then turned away and disappeared into the darkness. Almost instantly, Kisuke felt Tessai's massive hand give him a reassuring shoulder squeeze. Yoruichi, perched on his other shoulder, let her head bump against his gently.

_Enough… Enough now,_ he had told himself. Before him, his future life split in two paths: he could let this separation become the starting point of a downward spiral, or he could move on. With Tessai and Yoruichi by his side, the choice was easy to make. They had both lost everything to help him and Kisuke wasn't about to let their sacrifices be in vain. He chose to see that night as the first night of the rest of their lives and made himself vow to repay their kindness and friendship as best he could. "Well then," he had said, taking in a deep, refreshing breath of cool air. "Shall we get some sleep? We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

As he felt, rather than saw, the surprised look Tessai and Yoruichi shared over his head, Kisuke smiled and made his way across the backyard and back into the house.

His indelible cheerfulness over the following days was the source of many similar looks of alarm between his two companions, but neither seemed to complain. True to his word, Kisuke spent every waking moment from then on working to establish a new life for them.

Within a week, the small town of Karakura was abuzz with the news that a living relative claiming ownership of the long-abandoned building had shown up. The spell that had convinced the poor clerk he was looking at a genuine ownership deed, and not the blank piece of paper Kisuke had actually presented him with, had been fairly easy to cast; nothing but a minor adjustment on the spells used to modify the memories of humans who had seen too much. The real work was turning the house into suitable living quarters for the three of them, mostly because all repairs needed to happen under the watchful eyes of the neighborhood.

What little money Yoruichi had been able to secure for them on their last night in Soul Society needed to be spent wisely. Despite his laid-back attitude over the matter, even Kisuke wasn't completely comfortable to keep using spells and deception to secure provisions for an indeterminate period of time. Some amount of trickery was necessary to get them off to a proper start, but he made sure to keep a track of every single person they had stolen from in one way or another, so they could be secretly reimbursed in the future. The actual money on hand was only ever used for groceries, or any time either Kisuke or Tessai made a public appearance in the market to keep up the ruse of being human. It hadn't been a substantial amount to begin with, as Death Gods were only allotted a small sum of human currency on a mission-to-mission basis if needed, and it was quickly running out.

On the more positive side of things, the difference between the once abandoned building and the place they now called a home was striking.

That morning, after he returned from the marketplace, a bag of groceries in hand, Kisuke took a few minutes to admire the view of their house. The fresh coat of paint he had finished applying last evening should be dry about now, and it looked as though Tessai had finished installing the wooden double doors out front.

"It's coming along quite nicely, Mr. Kanzaki."

Kisuke turned around to smile at his very nosey but otherwise polite neighbor. "Thank you and good morning, Mrs. Koizumi," he said, giving her a bow.

"And a good morning to you, too," she said, resuming the sweeping of her porch but keeping her eyes on the house. "Is it true, then? You're opening up a store on the ground floor?"

"That's the idea," he said. "It will take a while; we're still busy with paperwork and fixing this place up, but it's all going according to plan so far."

"I saw that partner of yours, Mr. Saito, was it?" she asked. Kisuke nodded at her. "He was putting in the new doors this morning. Quite an intimidating fellow, isn't he?"

"Oh, Hikaru is just shy," Kisuke said, waving his free hand casually at Mrs. Koizumi. "Once we're settled in you'll get to know him soon enough, don't you worry."

"I have no doubt," she said, and he believed her.

Kisuke gave her a parting bow and was about to head into the house, when she spoke again. "I just _have_ to ask—"

_For the love of— _Kisuke allowed himself a brief grimace before turning to her again, fake smile back on his face. "Yes?"

"That black cat that seems to like roaming around your house," Mrs. Koizumi said, and instead of the regular glint in her eye whenever she was fishing for new gossip, Kisuke was surprised to see a touch of exasperation. "My daughter has been pestering me for ages. Does she belong to you?"

_Ohhhhhh, boy._ "Er…" Kisuke suddenly had the distinct impression that his answer was going to be thoroughly dissected once inside by the cat in question, who could very well be listening in on this conversation. "In a… manner of speaking," he said. "We found her here when we first arrived and it felt a little cruel to send her away. She seems to have brought us a fair bit of luck," Kisuke said, grinning.

"Oh, thank heavens," Mrs. Koizumi said, looking truly relieved. "Now I can tell Haruka she should stop trying to lure her into our house."

Kisuke laughed and bid Mrs. Koizumi farewell once more. This time around, she had nothing new to say and Kisuke was finally able to return home.

He tested the new doors a couple of times to see if they worked as intended, then walked into the foyer, tiptoeing around the various bits of wood and cans of paint strewn about the floor. Setting the grocery bag down for a moment, Kisuke approached the left wall and placed his hand up against it. It was impossible to tell for anyone who didn't have an extremely high sensitivity to spiritual energy, but the interior of the whole house was quietly humming with a steady flow of power. Aside from the pleasant, fresh smell, repainting the house had had the added bonus of concealing their collective spiritual pressure without the need for an artificial body as long as they stayed within its walls. If they were to spend their foreseeable future in the human world, Kisuke had realized that the non-stop use of artificial bodies would be detrimental should they ever need to return to their spiritual ones. There was one more reason, if he was being entirely honest, and said reason had been sleeping peacefully in the bed upstairs, in her actual form, when he'd left for the market about an hour ago.

Implementing his idea had been easier than he'd originally thought. The cloak he had invented back in Soul Society worked a similar way, and injecting kidou into the fabric had been the only logical choice for what he had been attempting. He had initially doubted things would be as easy when it came to a whole structure, and since they weren't building it from scratch but rather renovating it, it had taken him some time to work out whether it could be done in the first place. In the end, the solution had been so simple he hadn't believed it would ever work, but he tried it anyway, and the paint became the vessel this time around. Yoruichi had said he'd been insufferably smug for the whole day once the plan worked, but she hadn't exactly complained when she was able to release her cat form without repercussions.

Kisuke bent down to retrieve the grocery bag and called out to the house, "I'm home."

The lack of answer told him that Yoruichi must be asleep still and Tessai wandering about somewhere. He'd mentioned something earlier on about getting more wood for the shelves they planned to install, so perhaps he was out retrieving some. Kisuke took the bag of groceries over to the small kitchen, then made his way upstairs to the bedroom he shared with Yoruichi. As he had suspected, he found her still under the covers, arms wrapped around a pillow. Sitting down on the empty spot next to her on the mattress, Kisuke ran a finger down her bare back.

Yoruichi let out a soft moan at the touch and opened one eye to look at him. "That kid better quit it with the dried fish treats and the meowing noises now," she said.

Kisuke let out a chuckle. "So you were listening?"

"Mmmm… Half listening," she said, closing her eyes once more.

It was quite a turn of the tables, Kisuke being the first one of the pair to wake up while the other slept on, but lately, Yoruichi had been coming to bed at late hours of the night. Kisuke knew that adjusting to their new life had been the hardest for her, a woman always on the move. Without an artificial body, she couldn't venture outside in anything but her cat form, and despite her insistence that she didn't mind, he was certain she was going a little stir-crazy. Despite its freedom, the cat form didn't allow her to do much to keep herself busy. To stave off her boredom, she had taken up the habit of hunting at nights. She was quite efficient at it, but her small size didn't lend itself to bringing in any prey that could realistically serve three. Besides, her hunting wasn't meant to be a means to secure food, but rather an outlet for her. Even so, that one night she had dragged in a bona fide eagle, looking supremely proud of herself, neither he nor Tessai had had the heart to tell her they didn't find her offering particularly appetizing. The resulting meal had been… interesting, to put it kindly.

Deciding to let her sleep some more while he worked on the foyer downstairs, Kisuke covered her up with the blanket. He was about to leave the room, when he noticed it, the small vase on the bedside table that had so far been empty. This morning, it held three long branches peppered with beautiful purple blossoms. Maple. His first thought was that it had been Tessai's doing, but Tessai never ventured into their room out of respect for their privacy and had insisted he take one of the two empty rooms downstairs by the foyer. That left Yoruichi as the culprit.

"When did this happen?" Kisuke asked, reaching out to touch the soft petals of one of the flowers.

Yoruichi's lips twitched upwards in a soft grin, as if she had been expecting him to notice for a while now. "Last night," she said.

"Last night?" Kisuke said, brow creasing as he tried to see if he recalled anything of the sort. He didn't.

Yoruichi lifted her core up off the mattress and rested her cheek on her balled fist. "You don't remember?"

"No," Kisuke said, trying once more to dig into his memories of last night for any sign of the flowers. He remembered going to bed, then remembered waking up to find Yoruichi, no longer a cat, crawling on top of him after returning from her hunt and… the rest of the memories didn't contain any flowers whatsoever. "I may have been… distracted."

She let out a peal of laughter at that, then settled back onto the mattress again. "You don't say."

He tried to put a lot of unsaid things into the smile he gave her as he ran his fingers through her now shoulder-length hair. He knew the flowers weren't meant to be a touch of domestic instinct; the implication that Yoruichi had even the slightest tendency toward the domestic would have surely earned him the beating of his life, even if uttered as a joke. But he understood all too well why she had brought them in, and it made his heart swell with emotion. He bent down to give her a soft kiss, whispering a quick 'Thank you' and leaving her to catch up on her sleep.

As he exited the room, he paused at the threshold, looking at the beautiful purple blossoms once more. His thoughts strayed to the person whose kind face they'd meant to invoke, and Kisuke couldn't help but smile at the memory of his mother.

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_**FEBRUARY 11**__**TH**__**, 240 B.H.I., URAHARA CLAN MANOR, COURT OF PURE SOULS**_

.

The day she was informed that the powerful Tamenaga name had been overlooked in favor of her own for a seat in Shihouin Kenichi's council, Urahara Kaede took pause.

Of the lesser noble clans, hers fell near the lowest rungs of the social ladder. In fact, it wasn't even her own clan; she had married into it, and while the union had eventually produced a sole, much-needed heir, she had become widowed before her son had reached his fortieth year of age. The death of her beloved Takehiko twenty two years ago had brought, along with her despair, the near-severing of many already tenuous relationships with the clansmen, since she had always been considered too lowborn to marry into their family. She was tolerated as the mother of the Urahara heir, and being a moderately celebrated Kidou master, she was, at times, regarded with grudging respect from both family and peers. Still, she was under no delusions that the members of the deeply patriarchic Urahara clan viewed her as anything other than a glorified regent, a stand-in as the head of the family until her son became of age.

The mere idea that Tamenaga Jirou's immense talent and stellar lineage had been found wanting when compared to hers was laughable.

The unofficial and ever-changing list of those considered for the position had been discussed at length in tea rooms of both the upper and lower echelons of Soul Society's nobility. All the other contenders had been equally impressive and qualified to offer pearls of wisdom to one of the most powerful men in their world. Though she couldn't have been present for all such discussions, Urahara Kaede was absolutely certain her name couldn't have been included in any of the rumored lists. She was talented enough to recognize talent greater than hers when she saw it, and sensible enough to understand that with grandparents who once lived in Rukongai, she had too much commoner blood in her, enough that even marrying into one of the lesser clans had raised many an eyebrow.

Nevertheless, she took the offer to relocate in lord Shihouin's castle as a great honor bestowed upon her person. Keeping to tradition, she thanked the messenger and requested the customary three days to consider the Shihouin clan's proposal.

There wasn't really a decision to be made; rejecting such a position by Lord Shihouin's side for anything short of a cataclysmic event was akin to social suicide. If nothing else, it had earned her some long-awaited positive attention from the rest of the clan. If she had to stomach the saccharine praise of those who had once scorned her to erase the stigma of commoner blood off her son, so be it.

That night little Kisuke crawled into bed with her, his head already brimming with the expectation of newness. Kaede smiled and ran a hand through her son's flaxen hair, the trademark straw blond of the Urahara clan. He may have inherited_ their_ hair and not her own chestnut brown, but he had _her_ eyes and most importantly, her brains. Kaede had never been a particularly vain woman, but she had enough self-respect to recognize the fact that she was often among the cleverest people in any given room. Still, if she was considered to be a sharp woman, she wasn't quite certain what word would be suitable enough to describe the amazing mind her son possessed. She doubted Kisuke would ever find himself in any room where his intelligence didn't dwarf that of the two runners-up combined.

Settling under the covers, Kaede let Kisuke ramble on about the exciting new development, and did she know the Shihouin mansion played host to the oldest maple trees in Soul Society, maple, _kaede,_ like the character for her name, thirteen strokes, first main radical tree or wood, four strokes, but yes, four magnificent nonagenarian maple trees, and how they were said to have the most beautiful blossoms of any other maple tree in the realm, and did she know they were the result of endless experimentation on grafting until they reached that perfect tree so it would flower more often and accelerate the breeding rate and potential for—

"Kisuke, could we talk about maple trees tomorrow?" Kaede said, her mind full after an entire day of agonizing over the hows and whys of her selection.

"But—"

"Tomorrow, darling," she said, cutting him off and letting out a yawn. Endlessly proud though she was of him, sometimes Kisuke's brilliance—

…_Oh._

And in a sudden flash of understanding, Kaede saw the offer for what it truly was. In retrospect, she was downright embarrassed it had taken her so long to finally see. It wasn't her own mastery, or even her intellect that was being honored by this offer, but rather the young man talking up a storm in her arms. If Kisuke's current progress was any indication, the boy would grow up to be the kind of prodigy seen only once in a lifetime. The Shihouin clan had clearly taken notice and meant to foster the child's talents in ways only the most privileged of their society could, and in the process offering her a position of considerable influence. In return, one of the most promising future students of the academy would be forever pledged to serve the House of Shihouin.

Any sane parent would have been ecstatic at the opportunity. Kaede liked to think she was one of them, but she knew her own son well enough to predict that Kisuke would be a poor fit in court. A life of rigid structure and success was expected not only of the Shihouin clan members, but of their subordinates as well. Kisuke truly thrived when given gentle direction and then left to his own devices (quite literally at that). They were still nobility, and as such didn't enjoy the freedoms those with fewer responsibilities did, but so far, Kaede had indulged her son's proclivity for a looser lifestyle as much as she had been able to.

If –_when_, she corrected herself- they moved to court, Kisuke's days of staying up till the early hours of the morning for projects such as observing the hunting habits of owls would be over. Intellect was much admired in Soul Society. Great intellect like hers, was regarded with awe and flecks of suspicion. She shuddered to think what his peers would make of Kisuke when even she found it hard to keep up with him at times. She had wanted him to enjoy the halcyon days before his brilliance became even the slightest burden in his life.

As Kisuke's sweet ramblings faded into nothing and he fell asleep at last, Kaede let out a sigh and allowed part of her heart to weep for her little boy's impending change of lifestyle. Only for a moment. Then, she allowed the other half of her to rejoice, to be proud of the beautiful mind and soul of the child she had raised, and she formulated a plan. She had three days until the messenger was scheduled to arrive for her response, and she would not spend them in vain.

Kisuke was in for the best spent seventy-two hours she could possibly offer him. If there was time, and he was receptive to it, she might sneak in a piece of advice or two on the new life that awaited them, but she doubted he would be much inclined to listen.

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_**FEBRUARY 17**__**TH**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIHOUIN CLAN ANCESTRAL CASTLE, COURT OF PURE SOULS - MORNING**_

.

As the caravan carrying their entire life's worth of possessions trailed behind their carriage, Kaede felt her heart begin to drum a little faster. One day after she had sent her reply to Lord Shihouin, a second messenger had arrived, carrying a scroll bearing the Shihouin seal. The head of the clan himself had written to express his formal gratitude at her acceptance. In the letter, he also spoke of a 'modest' ceremony that would take place the night of their arrival, as an official welcome to their new home. From what she had seen of Shihouin castle from afar, Kaede had to wonder just what the clan's definition of modest might be.

Her curiosity was satisfied the moment their carriage rolled onto the sturdy, wooden bridge and over the serpentine moat surrounding the complex; it was then that the castle came in full view. Next to her, Kisuke, who had been –frankly- exhausting the whole ride through with his incessant questions, fell silent at long last, his mouth dropping. The paved road ahead led the caravan to the White Gate, the first of ten similar passages scattered across the northwest corner of the Court of Pure Souls that led into the large complex of Shihouin Castle. The White Gate, portcullis already drawn, was situated between the first two of the castle's famous maples. The other two, she had been told, were planted by the castle's shrine and the grounds behind the main estate, respectively.

"Look, mom!" Kisuke whispered, pointing at the very trees that had fascinated him so during his research on the castle's history.

"I know, love," Kaede said with a smile, reaching out to hold his hand as their carriage crossed under the gate decorated with a large Shihouin Crest, the four elite guards on standby saluting them.

The entire compound of buildings was enclosed by thick walls that went for at least two and a half miles, by her estimation, and were lined all the way around with defensive loopholes. Within said walls lay a veritable town of beauty the likes of which Kaede had never before seen, even in the loveliest corners of the Court of Pure Souls. Every road, every separate structure, every bench, had been crafted with the utmost care. Pale white buildings with their signature amethyst roofs, gardens housing trees that would be bursting with fruit come spring and koi ponds, each more beautiful that the last. While the main road had been cleared for their arrival, Kaede could see a multitude of people going about their day, servants and members of the lesser clans alike.

"Look, Kisuke," Kaede whispered to her awestruck son. "See these men over there?" She pointed discreetly at a group of black-clad soldiers a few roads away; they were marching towards the Yellow Gate at the east of the complex in formation. "They're members of the Onmitsukidou, the Secret Mobile Corps. Princess Yoruichi is meant to become their leader once she becomes of age."

Kaede had spent some time during the past few days educating her son on the families that lived in Shihouin Castle, the Lord's councilmen and heads of his personal guard, as well as the Shihouin family itself. He had been intrigued to find out that there were many children his age living in the castle, even the Princess herself who was only a few hours younger than he was. He hadn't had many chances to socialize with his peers in the past and the idea had both excited and scared him at first, but right now he only had eyes for the Onmitsukidou members.

Kisuke's gaze didn't leave the soldiers until they had disappeared through the Yellow Gate and into the Onmitsukidou training grounds and headquarters in the distance. When he turned to look ahead once more, their carriage was making its way up the first steep walkway leading to the main estate. Once they reached the first landing, the caravan didn't follow the immediate path and Kaede could see why; the road upwards was lined with several steps that would have made access via carriage if not impossible, then far too cumbersome and unnecessary. Instead, the driver of their carriage steered it along to the end of the landing, toward a drawn, heavy gate.

Kisuke must've realized they were nearing the end of their journey, as his sweaty palm clenched Kaede's hand tighter, and she rubbed her thumb over his soft skin in reassurance. "Almost there, now," she told him in a soothing voice.

As the carriage climbed up the final pathway, Kaede ventured a look at the side of the road. They were high enough to see not only the whole complex, but most of the Court of Pure Souls as well. Kaede gave Kisuke's hand a gentle tug and motioned to the panoramic view with her head. It had the desired effect; no longer looking pale and nervous, Kisuke gaped at the sight and forgot all about his anxiety at the impending meeting with the lords of this truly majestic castle.

Kaede, not quite as easily distracted, took a deep breath, steeling herself while they crossed the final few meters and reached the main estate at long last. At the end of the road was a wide stone staircase that led into the building, where a crowd of personnel had arrived to greet them. As expected, Lord and Lady Shihouin had saved their own welcome for that night's feast and were absent. A man dressed in a deep purple kimono bearing the Shihouin crest came forward and introduced himself as Fukui Katsuo, the estate's porter, bidding her welcome and offering to help Kaede down.

_There we go_, Kaede thought, taking the man's hand and stepping off the carriage. She turned to Kisuke next, reaching out for him. For a moment, it looked as if he might crawl into the carriage and disappear from sight, but eventually he bent forward, taking her hand and landing gracefully by her side on the ground.

As Mr. Fukui led them forward into the five-story building, instructing the staff to carry their belongings inside, Kaede grasped Kisuke by the hand and readied herself for the new chapter in their lives.

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_**FEBRUARY 17**__**TH**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIHOUIN CLAN ANCESTRAL CASTLE, COURT OF PURE SOULS - EVENING**_

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The first sign both Kaede and Kisuke had that things happened with the utmost efficiency in the Shihouin household came within minutes of their arrival at the ancestral castle.

In the hour it took for them to be given a tour of the estate's main halls and gardens, their personal effects had already been transferred to their quarters. Asuka, Kaede's handmaiden ever since she had joined the Urahara clan, was currently giving a few final instructions to the moving staff. Though it would require a few days' work to have everything in place according to Kaede's wishes, the apartment was already fitted with the absolute necessities. Asuka came forward to greet Kaede and inform her that a fresh outfit had already been laid out in each their bedrooms, a light meal would be served shortly and a bath could be drawn at a moment's notice.

Feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the day's rapid proceedings, Kaede was grateful for the chance to unwind and she was certain Kisuke needed some time to process everything as well. After having their lunch, they both familiarized themselves with the layout of their apartment. Being already used to having his own room in their previous home, Kisuke wasn't particularly impressed by the far more luxurious quarters he would now be sleeping in. What truly captured his interest was the study. The spacious, open room that also served as their dining area held two desks, one for each of them, at the far end next to a large window, and two separate bookcases, one per wall. Kisuke was initially puzzled to see that the books they'd brought over from the Urahara manor didn't quite fill out all the shelves, until he realized that his own books were still in storage and every single volume on the shelves was a new book to be explored. Kaede had to physically drag him away and into a bath a few hours later, when the hour of their welcoming ceremony was drawing near.

"All right," she said, kneeling down to Kisuke's level once they had both bathed and dressed in their finest. "Let me take a look at you."

Though he understood the importance of a good first impression, Kaede knew her son was aching to get back to his reading. He was usually amenable to most requests, unless he had been interrupted in the middle of anything he believed to be important. As Kaede ran her hands down his dark blue haori and straightened the pleats of his striped hakama, his eyes kept straying toward the volume he had been cruelly forced to abandon.

"Kisuke, focus, please," Kaede said, grabbing him by the chin gently and making him look at her. "We can't tarry, Ms. Fujiwara has been patiently waiting for us long enough."

Fujiwara Chiyo, the court's head tutor and Kisuke's future tutor as well, stood by the doorway, smiling behind her colorful fan. She had been sent to guide them to the great hall where the ceremony would take place, and to get a chance to meet Kisuke in person before their first lesson come morning. Currently, she was eyeing him with great interest. Kaede had seen the look before: it was the hopeful look all tutors got in their eyes when dealing with a promising student like Kisuke. She almost felt sorry for her; most of her son's tutors had lasted about three to four hours before his never-ending questions drove them to the edge and subsequent lessons were met with far less enthusiasm on their part. Perhaps Ms. Fujiwara would last five.

"This little cowlick will be the end of me, I swear," Kaede muttered, trying in vain to tame the strand of hair falling between Kisuke's eyes. Eventually, she gave up, sighing; she'd been trying to make the offending strand behave for years, and if it hadn't worked so far, it definitely wouldn't work now, either. She proclaimed him ready, then stood up to her full height. "How do I look?" she asked Kisuke.

The boy took in her kimono; pure white, embroidered with the pale pink lotus flowers of the Urahara crest, it was the last gift she had received from Takehiko on their anniversary before his death. Kisuke smiled at her. "Very pretty," he said.

"You liar," Kaede said, smirking at him and offered him her hand. "Sorry for the wait, Ms. Fujiwara," she said, giving the matron a curt bow before they were on their way.

The trip to the great hall took longer that Kaede had expected, even though she had already been given the tour a few hours ago. Kisuke, she noticed, had already memorized the maze-like layout of the halls and kept steering her toward the right direction without any need to keep his eyes on Mrs. Fujiwara. The teacher had been kind enough to explain the proceedings for the upcoming ceremony and had asked Kisuke questions about his schooling so far, his interests and his first impressions of the estate. Kaede was grateful for the distraction, for it allowed her some time to get herself mentally prepared.

For all her talk that the walk had taken a long time, when they reached the gilded double doors guarded by a pair of Lord Shihouin's men, Kaede could've sworn they had left their quarters barely a minute ago. Ms. Fujiwara bid them farewell and made her way swiftly toward the side entrance. The guard on the right gave Kisuke a kind smile the boy returned reluctantly, then the man turned to her. "Are you ready, Lady Urahara?"

Kaede cast one final look at Kisuke, running her hands over his hair and picking invisible lint off his fine kimono, did a quick inspection of herself, then nodded at the guard.

The men knocked on the heavy doors thrice in concert, then pushed them open and stepped forward. "Lady Urahara Kaede. Young Lord Urahara Kisuke," they called to the court.

Kaede pressed a gentle hand against her son's back and steered him inside. She could feel his skin vibrate with soft tremors and gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before pulling away and crossing her hands before her lap.

It took a great deal of concentration not to stare at the beautifully decorated great hall. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could tell that the ceremony was being attended by the majority of the court. The lords and ladies forming the Shihouin retinue stood up before their respective tables and fell silent. Between the two rows of dining room tables, a wide path lead to the end of the hall and up a dais, where Lord and Lady Shihouin waited along with their daughter, the Lord's councilmen and their families standing behind them.

"Eyes down, Kisuke," Kaede whispered at her son, her own back slightly bowed as they made their way down the path. She saw Kisuke nod imperceptibly and swallow as he followed along, his eyes wide and alert. They came to a stop a few steps away from the lords of the estate, where Kaede was relieved to see Kisuke gently drop to his knees when she did.

Lord Shihouin took both his wife and daughter by one hand and they all stepped down the dais gracefully, coming to stand before Kaede and Kisuke.

Kaede raised her head to make swift eye contact and bowed once to Lord Shihouin, deeply, taking the opportunity to cast her first close look on the Shihouin family. Its patriarch, Lord Shihouin Kenichi, cut an imposing figure: tall and still very lean despite the obvious signs of age on his face, he wore his long black hair in a meticulously constructed topknot. There was a nearly purple sheen to his locks, Kaede realized, a trait he and his daughter shared. The Lord was regarding Kaede with his clever, onyx eyes, and she could tell he was making an effort to keep his formidable spirit force under control if not for her sake, then for the children's sake. On his left stood Lady Hana, his wife, and on his right, Princess Yoruichi. The similarity between mother and daughter was startling; if not for her hair, Princess Yoruichi might have been an exact replica of her mother. Lady Hana wore her light brown hair in a loose bun held together by a spectacular golden headdress which matched her kimono in color. Both she and her daughter had rich, deep brown skin and hazel eyes, differing only in their expression. While Lady Hana was sizing up Kaede with a decidedly superior look in her eyes, the Princess looked simply bored. She was a sweet little slip of a thing, Shihouin Yoruichi, clad in enough fabric to make her tiny body disappear. She didn't seem to be particularly enjoying the hubbub, nor the restricting, though resplendent red kimono she had been instructed to wear.

Lord Shihouin Kenichi addressed his two guests. "Rise, Lady Urahara, Young Lord Urahara. We welcome you to our home."

Despite her certainty that Lord Shihouin was not using his spirit pressure to intimidate them, Kaede felt a little breathless, though it may have simply been the keen desire to make a good first impression at court. Next to her, Kisuke's trembling had exacerbated, whether by nerves or the great wave of power washing over him, she couldn't tell.

"Your Excellency, it is a true honor to be invited within these walls," Kaede said. "I pledge my loyalty to you, and vow to use my gifts to honor the great House of Shihouin, forever and always," she said, reciting the speech she had practiced a few hours before. As she rose up to her feet, she turned to Lady Shihouin and the princess one at a time, bowing deeply. "My Lady Shihouin, Princess Shihouin."

Lady Hana gave her a curt, polite smile and a nod of her head in return. The princess smiled at Kaede a little uncertainly and bowed back.

Lord Shihouin, for all his booming voice and intimidating presence, turned to Kisuke next with a firm, but kind expression. Kaede felt a gentle wave of spiritual power wafting their way, no doubt the Lord's attempt to put her son at ease.

Kisuke stood up straighter, now looking downright terrified as they had reached his small part of the proceedings. He took a quick breath in and stepped forward before the family of three. He was a little too close, and Kaede felt the urge to pull him a few steps back, but Lord Shihouin didn't seem to mind. In his soft, clear voice, Kisuke recited the same oath Kaede had just a moment ago. With every word, she could see and feel his anxiety fade a little as his ordeal was about to be over. By the time he reached the end, he looked so relieved to be done, he had to suppress a smile as he bowed to the noble couple. Kisuke turned to Princess Yoruichi next, and Kaede was about to let her body relax at long last, when her son, in all his juvenile enthusiasm and utter relief, bowed a little too low and too sharply and, very literally, knocked heads with the heir of the Shihouin family. Hard. Sending the princess straight down to the floor.

It took about a second for the incident to truly sink in, but when it did, Kaede felt every speck of blood in her veins turn to ice. In contrast, her face flared up to the deepest of reds and time around her seemed to slow down. As though from very far away, the muted gasps of the crowd in the hall reached her ears. She could hear chairs scraping on the floor and the deafening sound of dozens of people whispering in unison.

Lady Shihouin's mouth dropped, her face slowly, but steadily turning the deep purple of the estate's gorgeous maple blossoms. Maple. _Kaede_. Like her name. Thirteen strokes.

Lord Shihouin fell to his knees to see to his daughter and Kisuke –_Oh, __**Kisuke**__!- _followed suit, desperately apologizing over and over. The little princess sat up with her father's assistance, her eyes slightly out of focus. The sight might have been comical if this wasn't Kaede's single, most shameful moment in life. She could tell the girl was trying to figure out what had just happened. The hall fell silent, Kisuke's apologies quieting down to whispers, as the princess blinked once, twice, then turned to look at the boy before her.

And then, she started laughing. Not the demure hand-over-the-mouth kind of laughter taught to proper ladies since they learned to crawl, but hearty, head thrown back, clean-your-guts-out laughter. It echoed through the otherwise quiet hall –even Kisuke had gone silent now- joyful, crystalline, as the girl's eyes filled with tears of mirth. In the far ridges of Kaede's mind, the few parts that weren't completely mortified, she was relieved to hear that the princess wasn't laughing at her son, but at the ridiculous situation unfolding around them. For truly, Kaede would be hard pressed to find a past memory more ridiculous than what she was now experiencing.

Slowly, uncertainly, Kisuke joined the princess, his usually pale little face flushed with embarrassment and amusement.

Kaede, feeling returning to her rigid body at long last, hurried forward and issued her own repeated apologies. Lady Shihouin muttered a perfunctory response, her facial muscles stiffer than rock, while Lord Shihouin helped his still giggling daughter to her feet, giving her stern looks that weren't making much of an impact. Kisuke tried his best to look remorseful and took to apologizing once more, but his sincerity must've been put into question; his voice was laced with renewed laughter every time the princess let out little snorts into her father's sleeve, rubbing her sore forehead with the other hand.

Putting an end to this vicious cycle, Lord Shihouin, jaw clenched, finally spoke. "Let us… dine," he said. The hall filled with sound again, as the rest of the court pretended to return to their previous conversations, no doubt about to discuss the event in full.

Kaede dragged her feet toward the Lord's table, knowing full well that if they somehow didn't find themselves out of the estate tomorrow with a weak, but utterly polite excuse that contained words like 'regrettably,' 'ill-suited' and such, she would _never_ live this down.

Still, as she took her seat, she saw something that made her heart soften. Kisuke and Princess Yoruichi held each other's gaze and were sharing what could only be described as a wicked grin of camaraderie, the little girl still trying her utmost to calm herself. Unless Kaede was wrong –and she usually wasn't- her quiet, strange, wonderful son had just made his first friend.

And that was worth all the humiliation in the world. Almost.

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><p>.<p>

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><p><strong>AN: **I find it absolutely hilarious that Kisuke, a man on the run from Soul Society, calls his place **URAHARA** SHOP. Like… seriously, dude? It's a wonder he didn't have a huge neon target sign installed above the roof with an inscription reading "COME AT ME, BROS." Not that it's OOC for him to troll people like that, but he's also shown to be quite careful when he needs to be and this seems like a silly risk to take. Still, since it's not only canon but also such a Kisuke thing to pull, I do plan on using it in the future. I just thought he might be less inclined to do so that early on in their exile, since people are bound to notice an ageless guy called Urahara living in the same neighborhood for a full century. Also, I do realize that Kisuke and Yoruichi are acting a little sappy at the moment in their adult versions, but this is meant to be them in an already established relationship, at the lowest point in their lives and it all happens in private, so I hope it won't be seen as terribly OOC.

Now, for my take on aging and children:

Basically, souls with low spiritual power who die in the real world and come to Soul Society don't age, like little Shibata the parakeet points out early on in the series. Certain members of the Thirteen Divisions are seen to age through flashbacks and whatnot, so we can assume it happens, though very slowly. Rukia tells Ichigo when they first meet that she's lived ten times longer than he has, which sounds and probably is very arbitrary, but it really does work in most cases. For example, in the pendulum arc 100 years ago, Byakuya looks to be about 16, so using the 1:10 ratio, today he should have the appearance of a 26 year old, which fits. The problems in coming up with a set ratio of human to soul years begin when you find out that the Shin'ou Academy was founded 2100 years ago, and captains Kyouraku and Ukitake were among the first graduates. Both of them look to be in their mid-30s, 40s at best. Don't even get me started on Yamamoto, who already looked like he was in his 50s when the academy was first founded.

So, in order to save myself the pain of coming up with a ridiculous formula (which neither you nor I really care about), I'm just going to assume a ratio of 1:10 from childhood to adulthood (which would be 20 years old, going with Japanese customs), and afterwards, aging begins to slow down even more. For the purposes of this story, assume Kisuke and Yoruichi are about 400 years old when they meet Ichigo, which would make them 300 when they became exiles. I'm going with Kisuke and Yoruichi being the same age, and Tessai being a little older than both. The extra 100 years don't matter much in terms of appearance either way, since they use artificial bodies.

As for children… The wiki article on Soul Society says that Tite Kubo stated it was possible and it makes sense. Noble clans like the Kuchiki and Shihouin clan are seen to place a strong emphasis on lineage, so I'm guessing they don't just sit around waiting for promising-looking babies to come to SS and pick one out of the pack. Rukia was obviously an exception, as explained in the story. This leads me to believe they must reproduce, but since we don't see Yoruichi and Byakuya running around with fifty siblings each, it must either be rare or the nobles don't bother much with it once they secure an heir. Which is ridiculous, given the mortality rate in their usual professions, but I digress. We'll go with rare in this story.

If you enjoyed this, let me know!


	3. Ch2: Masks

**DISCLAIMER:** I spent my morning debating whether I could afford the nicer variety of paper towels and a three euro bottle of wine, so I think it's safe to assume I own nothing you recognize.

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait! It's a pretty huge chapter, especially when compared to the last one, so hopefully that'll make up for the delay. The reason it took so long is that I had some (thankfully pleasant) new developments in my life and it took a while to get everything back in order before I could find some time to write. My thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed the story so far! It's great to know people are interested in this from the get-go, so I hope I won't let you down with future chapters.

A quick warning: shougi (a Japanese strategy board game in the chess family) makes a brief appearance in this chapter. I am completely hopeless when it comes to chess, and all my knowledge of shougi comes from the intarwebz, so I only inserted bits and pieces of info to give the scene a touch of realism. Also, I have set up a tumblr account after years of being a lurker. While I like sharing my thought process with you guys, I realized that the A/N isn't the best place to do it, so whenever there's something I want to expand on that has no immediate bearing on the current chapter, I'll link the relevant tumblr post here for anyone interested in reading it. You can find my tumblr address in my profile page. For this week's ramblings, simply add 'post/102873821322/notes-on-mna-ch2' (no quotes) at the end of the url.

Some cultural notes for this chapter:

**The Daruma doll fell over (Daruma-san ga koronda):** The Japanese version of the children's game 'Statues' AKA 'Red Light Green Light.' The game starts with a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors, wherein the people who lose keep advancing to the next round. The last person left is 'it,' called the Oni (demon).

**Tanzaku**: Small pieces of paper used to write wishes upon, often in the form of a poem (commonly associated with the Tanabata festival)

**Hikizuri**: Trailing kimono usually worn by performers

**Taiko**: Japanese drum

**Washi**: The more expensive type of origami paper

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 2: Masks<strong>

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><p>.<p>

_**JANUARY 1**__**ST**__**, 1902 A.D., KARAKURA TOWN, JAPAN**_

.

With a warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders, Yoruichi gingerly descended the steps down to the store, her head pounding.

She had no idea what time it was, but the brightness of the sun suggested it was well past noon. Shielding her eyes at the invasion of light, she stumbled across the messy foyer, trying to find her way to the kitchen blindly. One smashed toe and much cursing later, she hopped her way into the kitchen, opening drawers indiscriminately in search of those white little analgesic tablets Tessai claimed worked wonders. Yoruichi had been skeptic of the drug's effectiveness in the past, as she was with many things in the human world, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She found the bottle container eventually and unscrewed the lid, popping a pill into her mouth. The horrible bitterness wasn't helping the already unpleasant aftertaste of last night's many –_Oh so __**many**__- _indulgencies, and she quickly reached for a glass to fill with water and wash it away. She let out a shudder, then turned around and sank down onto the floor, her back against the counter. Unfortunately, the drug was supposed to take a while to work and Yoruichi let out a pitiful moan, curling up into a ball of misery and wrapping the blanket around her more tightly as she waited for the concoction to work its alleged magic.

Cracking a bleary eye open, she took in the state of the kitchen. Compared to the rest of the house, it wasn't in such a bad shape. Their first New Year's celebration in the human world had been one of the better nights and days she had spent there so far, but it had come at the heavy price of having to clean up the massive mess they'd made afterwards. With a raging headache, no less.

_Next year, we'll have a nice, quiet dinner and that's __**it**__,_ she thought, rubbing one of her sore temples.

She knew, however, even as she formed the thought, that this wasn't a promise she was going to keep. Troublesome though it was, having to face the music come morning, their tradition of pulling out all stops on December 31st was far older than the modern celebration of New Year's. Kisuke had outdone himself this year, even with their limited resources, and Yoruichi understood why he'd felt the need to splurge all too well. As smoothly as things had gone for their first year in exile, they still had trouble not only adjusting, but also making ends meet; the store was a moderate success, but if their needs had been closer to those of actual humans, they would have genuinely struggled.

As if the urge to celebrate the fact that they were all alive and well wasn't enough, Kisuke had had more than a little help from that blasted concoction from Ceylon that had made him hyper all day long. Yoruichi couldn't quite place the name –_Co… Coi? Cohi?-_ but it was meant to be brewed into a beverage in order to be consumed. They had all tried it, but Yoruichi and Tessai had found the black brew bitter and unpleasant, not nearly as refreshing as unsweetened tea, and had both pushed their cups away after a couple of sips. Kisuke had had five cups. He spent the following day dragging Tessai and Yoruichi into a mish-mash of celebrations from both their world and the human world, jumping from activity to activity like a man possessed. Kite-flying, card games, an odd sport played with paddles he called hanetsuki, pounding rice cakes in the back yard, all of it culminating in a splendid dinner where they consumed enough sake to fill a small lake.

She was unable to help but smile at the thought of Kisuke's efforts to plan all activities indoors so she would be able to participate in everything. _That idiot. How exactly was he planning on flying a kite indoors?_ Then again, that would probably explain the odd sketch of a complicated pulley machine she'd found lying around his desk. Eventually, she had pointed out to him that she could simply switch to her cat form and make things easier for everyone, switching back only when it was time for dinner. He'd looked a little crestfallen at her suggestion; she didn't know if it was because he'd just realized there was a very simple solution to the problem that rendered his intricate plans a waste of time, or if he had actually looked forward to implementing them, but he'd moved on from his disappointment quickly enough.

If Yoruichi felt a touch of regret regarding last night, it was because their binging had caused them to miss the fireworks, but the fact that Kisuke had originally planned for them to have their drinks on the rooftop softened the blow a little. As she'd dragged him upstairs a few hours after midnight, his body dead weight on her shoulders, he'd kept muttering into her ear: " 'zit midnight yet? Hafta go to th' rooftop fer firewerks. You hafta remind me, kay? Five min'tes to midnight, dun forget. We hafta do th' downcount. The… count… the _thing_."

She hadn't had the heart to tell him they'd missed it, so she'd assured him she was only letting him rest his eyes for a couple of minutes before they moved the party upstairs. Kisuke had only been able to muster a feeble 'Okay' before he was out like a log, not moving an inch from the spot she'd deposited him on the bed. Yoruichi had then made a quick detour downstairs into the dining room, where Tessai was passed out, and covered him with the largest blanket she had been able to find. _Lightweights,_ she'd thought with a grin, before she'd shed her human form and made her way up to the rooftop for some fresh air.

The bracing cold of the night had felt invigorating after a day filled with food, drink and games. Yoruichi had curled up onto the rooftop, tucking her tail under her limbs neatly, her eyes turning toward the starry sky. She couldn't tell how long she'd spent up there, but her thoughts had strayed to Soul Society more than once, no matter how hard she'd tried to quash them, just like they were now, as she sat on the cold kitchen floor.

During the start of their stay in the human world, they had often discussed the intelligence Yoruichi had gathered during her two-month stay. Kisuke's determination to undo the fate that had befallen them had burned with the fire of a thousand suns those first few weeks, as he analyzed motivations and posited theories on who their remaining –if any- allies might be. As time went on and their situation became real to all of them, his questions lessened until they eventually stopped altogether. No longer obsessing over giving her and Tessai the option to return once their names had been cleared –for Yoruichi was certain that had been his goal- he was instead channeling all his passion into destroying his greatest creation. Whenever he wasn't occupied with creating better living conditions for them, he would claim he was working on a new project and would disappear for hours, returning only after exhausting all his mental capacities, his eyes dead and cold at having failed again. They had an unspoken agreement, the two of them; she never asked about the Hougyoku, and he never asked about her family. It was the one question he had avoided when asking her to repeat her observations again and again. He'd asked of every single person she had come across, whether friend or foe, but never the Shihouin clan. Yoruichi was certain part of it had to do with the guilt he felt over her situation; Tessai had had no choice but to follow, whereas she had. He understood all too well just what she'd had to leave behind, and she suspected that he feared asking too many questions over how her family had taken her departure might make her reconsider her choice only to inevitably lead to her resenting him.

The truth was, however, she wouldn't have had anything to say even if he'd asked. For two long months, she had fought the urge to seek out any information concerning the Shihouin clan with all her might; she didn't think she could have handled the reaction on either end of the spectrum. If her family had been all too eager to believe she was a traitor, it would've crushed her. If they had stood behind her, believing in her despite all evidence to the contrary, it might've tempted her to stay. Thinking of her parents, of Soi Fon and Kuukaku and how they were handling her disappearance, was at times painful enough to take her breath away, leaving her in a state of near-panic, as she contemplated the full ramifications of what she had done to them and to the Shihouin legacy. As much as she had desired her freedom in the past, the cost at which it had come was devastating and not something she would have picked out of a thousand possible scenarios; she had never wanted to run away from her family's expectations of her, she had simply wanted to live up to her responsibilities in her own terms. Part of her had originally been terrified that the remorse _would_ eventually build up to a point where she would unfairly resent Kisuke.

That fear had evaporated the moment she had stepped into his arms that first night in the human world. She wasn't naïve or nearly dramatic enough to think she couldn't live with either choice; she had simply realized that if she truly wanted to go through life following her own rules, Kisuke's presence was a non-negotiable term. Miserable though it would be, she knew she could lead an existence away from him. She just chose not to, and despite her occasional musings on everything and everyone she had left behind, she had no doubt in her mind she would make the same choice over and over again in a hundred different lifetimes.

Unbidden, Tessai's words came to her from one of the few conversations they'd had during Kisuke's darker moments, the times when he locked himself away, consumed by his need to destroy the Hougyoku.

_"Don't worry, Lady Yoruichi. He understands that it was your choice to make. And it wouldn't have been much of a choice if you hadn't had to make sacrifices in the process, would it?"_

They'd never said goodbye, that last night in Soul Society. When it was time to part ways, as Tessai had led the others out of the training grounds, Kisuke had lingered behind, looking exhausted but at the same time determined. Hands in his pockets, he'd approached her, not meeting her eyes. "I have to ask at least once," he'd said quietly.

"No, you don't," Yoruichi had said.

"You've done more than enough. No-one has seen you, no-one knows it was you. You can still—"

Yoruichi had shaken her head firmly, resisting the urge to pummel him only because he, too, understood deep down that this conversation was futile.

He'd looked at her then, his eyes making one last plea for her to reconsider. "Why?"

In response, she'd locked her gaze with his as she busied her hands with the lapels of his haori, saying all that needed to be said with a single look. He'd sighed, running a thumb down her cheek, his expression pained only for a second, before he'd smiled at her. "See you on the other side?"

Yoruichi had smiled back.

Forcing her thoughts back to the present, Yoruichi looked upon the remnants of their latest New Year's fest, and eleven months after he'd asked, she decided to answer.

_Because you came up with a plan to fly a kite indoors. Because you still wanted to see the fireworks when you could barely string a sentence together. _

_Because you spent three hours deliberating and dragging me all over the house, until we could settle on which one __**our**__ bedroom would be._

_Because you tried to make me stay behind._

_Because we both wanted to be free._

_Because when I was scared of failure, you knew, without my saying a word, and built me a secret training room. _

_Because you never stopped being my best friend._

_Because you're the most brilliant man I've ever met and it still took me four weeks to teach you how to whistle._

_Because you fidget when you're nervous and hardly ever swear unless you're drunk. _

_Because it takes you three damn hours to fully function in the morning._

_Because you took the one night in every year when I felt truly alone, and turned it into the night I most look forward to. _

_Because I never have to tell you any of this. You already know._

.

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_**APRIL 15**__**TH**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIHOUIN CLAN ANCESTRAL CASTLE, COURT OF PURE SOULS**_

.

In the months that followed, Kaede saw her prediction come to fruition: Kisuke and Princess Yoruichi quickly developed the kind of relationship every parent wished their child would experience. Despite the unorthodox and highly embarrassing introduction of the Urahara family that night in court, even the stern Lady Hana approved of their companionship; Kisuke's gentler demeanor acted as a tempering agent to the princess's rebellious character.

Being a particularly vocal person, the little girl found herself at odds with her instructors on a nearly weekly basis. On such occasions, when she felt she was treated unfairly, she would stalk off after an argument, eager to be left alone. Her disappearing acts lasted anywhere from thirty minutes to whole hours, depending on the severity of the quarrel in question and the Princess's previous mood. The only constants in the equation were, a) her cat-like fondness for high perches or dark recesses as hiding holes, and b) the fact that Kisuke was the only one who could coax her out of such a place before the thirty minute mark.

"This is not behavior befitting a lady of your breeding," Ms. Fujiwara would say in her most intimidating tone. She was always the first one to step into the fray.

The ensuing parade of candidates trying to cajole the girl often included her handmaidens; her governess; the cook, tempting her with his famous manju or a plate of her favorite savory rice crackers; her other tutors; Sakumo, a guard Yoruichi had always been fond of for his talent in coming up with highly amusing and often inappropriate haiku.

In the end, the threat of alerting her parents next was issued, which was when Kisuke, abandoning his current project with a sigh and a shake of his head, stepped up to make sure she didn't get into real trouble. He would take a seat right by her hiding place and, in dulcet tones, would always manage to make the activity Yoruichi refused to perform sound like the most interesting, challenging thing in the world. Half way through his spiel, the little princess would peek out of her haven, wary of someone like Ms. Fujiwara swooping down upon her. Kisuke wouldn't react, not yet, but went on as if nothing had happened until Yoruichi finally relented. He would then turn to look at her, hold his hand out and pull her up to her feet, much to her annoyance.

"I can get up on my own," she would say, but her tone was never hostile and she had yet to refuse the proffered hand, either. She would then proceed to dust herself off, adopt a dignified expression, and set about to her designated activity as if she had never offered a modicum of resistance in the first place.

On such days, without fail, Kaede always caught Ms. Fujiwara out of the corner of her eye, furtively handing a generous handful of sweets to Kisuke after dinner.

Though she guessed it mattered little to Yoruichi's family, Kaede was overjoyed to see that said influence was a two-way street. Next to the Princess, Kisuke seemed to not only smile far more often, but also recovered some of his old confidence. Day by day, he was inching closer to the boy he had been before his schooling and interaction with some of the more unpleasant members of their family had drastically changed him. And if he happened to pick up a few bad habits from the Princess along the way, like her fondness for good-naturedly taunting others openly, well… Kaede felt well and truly positive in saying that she didn't give a damn.

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_**MAY 4**__**TH**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIHOUIN CLAN ANCESTRAL CASTLE, COURT OF PURE SOULS**_

.

"The Daaaaruuuuma dooooll fell ooooooover!"

Kisuke came to a halt, balancing precariously on his right leg. He could feel the pressure mount on his back as he leaned backwards, his left leg extended forward, arms spread out to keep him from toppling over. On his left, he could see Yoruichi had once again taken his challenge to keep their poses 'interesting' a bit too far: she had also chosen to stand on one leg, while she had bent the other all the way up into a perfect 180 degree angle, her arms hovering right by her head. He assumed she'd meant to grab on to the extended leg to help keep it in place, but hadn't been fast enough; the strain on her body was only noticeable by the bulging vein on her neck, but her face was otherwise as still as calm waters.

Tachibana Kumiko, the daughter of one of Lord Shihouin's councilmen and Kisuke's classmate, surveyed the scene before her, her deep blue eyes narrowed. The auburn haired girl took her time going over every single frozen body in search of anyone moving, paying careful attention to Yoruichi and Kisuke. Next to Tachibana, one of Yoruichi's cousins, Akira, was holding her hand, having already been captured as per the rules of the game. Judging by the look on his face, Kisuke assumed he wasn't particularly troubled with being saved; the older boy hadn't exactly been thrilled about playing the game in the first place, but had acquiesced after his younger brothers had insisted they all join in.

Once Tachibana was satisfied no-one had moved, she turned her back and faced the trunk of the cherry tree once more. "The Daaaaaaruuuumaaaaaa…"

"Show off," Kisuke muttered to Yoruichi, as they both landed back on two feet and hurried forward.

"Wimp," Yoruichi shot back, grinning. "You're not even trying."

"Dooooooooooooll…"

"Gonna rescue your cousin?" he asked.

"Yech, are you _kidding?_" Yoruichi said, looking nauseated at the mere thought. "Stuck-up little—"

"FELLOVER!"

Yoruichi cut her sentence short, scurrying to hold her position as Tachibana turned around. She wasn't quite so graceful this time around; Kisuke couldn't tell what it was exactly she'd been trying to imitate, but it looked like a bird about to take flight. Having been caught off guard as well, Kisuke hadn't managed to come up with a pose and simply froze mid-step, trying very hard not to laugh at Yoruichi's hunched back and floppy, bent arms.

"HE MOVED, I SAW HIM MOVE, URAHARA MOVED!"

Such was the intensity of the outburst that all ten other players, Tachibana included, turned to gape at Akira, the rules of the game half-forgotten. The boy was pointing straight at Kisuke, his eyes glowing with near savage glee.

Yoruichi, still holding her bird-like pose, narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "No, he didn't."

"Yes, he did!" Akira said, rounding up on Tachibana. "You saw him too, didn't you?"

Tachibana blushed a deep shade of red at the confronting question, shrinking away from Akira. "Umm… I…"

"_Didn't_ you?" Akira repeated, folding his arms in front of his chest, looming over her shorter form.

"I…I…" Tachibana mumbled, looking anywhere but straight at Akira. "N-no… I… I didn't…"

"Are you _serious_? He was laughing!"

"I… I didn't see—"

"I'm _telling_ you—"

"Okay, okay, I moved!" Kisuke said, holding his hands up. "I'll come up to the front, all right?"

"You didn't move, Kisuke!" Yoruichi hissed at him, still glaring daggers at her cousin and having now abandoned her former pose, switching to one more suited to a feline poised to pounce at a moment's notice.

The rest of their playmates had fallen silent, none of them looking eager to intervene and Kisuke couldn't exactly blame them; Akira's temper tantrums were the stuff of legend. Kisuke wasn't exactly fond of every one of his classmates or Yoruichi's family, but Akira was the only one he well and truly despised. The rest of the Shihouin clan (at least the members Kisuke had met) carried an almost universal air of superiority apparent in their every move and word, but he could think of no-one else who so readily abused his position as much as Akira did. Like the rest of his family, the boy had been bred to lead and everything about him, his posture, his onyx hair and eyes, even the tone of his voice, only served to reinforce his already commanding presence. Even Yoruichi, one of the least pompous individuals he knew, exuded the same natural air of authority, but whereas she used her strength to inspire and protect, Akira used every weapon in his arsenal to intimidate.

Under different circumstances, Kisuke might have taken a far more direct approach in dealing with Akira, but at present, he found it best not to prolong the uncomfortable situation. "Oh c'mon, let it go," Kisuke muttered at Yoruichi. "He keeps terrorizing her like that it's going to be a full-blown fight and I'm not really—"

"You didn't move!" Yoruichi insisted, meeting Kisuke's eyes, silently daring him to contradict her again.

"Listen to your creepy boyfriend, Yoruichi," Akira shot back, hands now in his pockets. "At least he has the decency to admit he's a cheater when caught in the act."

Kisuke and Yoruichi turned to face Akira in unison. Kisuke didn't have to look down to know Yoruichi must've looked murderous right now. It was clear the boy was itching for a fight, thought Kisuke wasn't sure whether his intended target had been him or Yoruichi, or perhaps even both of them.

"Take that back," Yoruichi threatened, her voice shaking with rage.

Relishing in her reaction, Akira broke into a broad sneer. "Which part? The part about him being your _boyfriend_," he said, emphasizing the last word in an overly saccharine voice. "Or him being creepy? Or a cheater?"

Sensing Yoruichi was seconds away from lunging at her cousin, Kisuke decided to intervene. "Uhhh, can I weigh in here?" he said, raising one hand. Akira shifted his gaze at him, giving him the kind of look one might bestow upon a particularly hideous insect. "When exactly have I ever cheated?"

"You mean other than just now?" Akira said.

"Sure, yeah, whatever," Kisuke said, shrugging.

Akira let out a scoff. "Every single time we play this blasted game you cheat! EVERY. TIME. Am I the only one who's noticed?" he said, now addressing them all. The response was unanimous; all around him, everyone stared back at Akira blankly.

"Apparently, yes," Kisuke said, grinning.

Akira's nostrils flared, the knuckles on his fisted hands turning white. "Rock-paper-scissors! That's where he does it! He keeps losing every single round and if it's down to me and him in the end, he _always_ wins!"

"…I do?"

"YOU _KNOW_ YOU DO!" Akira said, having turned almost hysterical with anger at the lack of any support to his claim. "We've played this _hundreds_ of times! In the last seventy two games I've been in the final round forty seven times and _every_ time it's down to me and you, and you _always_ win. _ALWAYS_! You did it again just half an hour ago! It can't be a coincidence!"

It was taking every ounce of discipline Kisuke had in his body –which wasn't much to begin with- not to show how this turn of events truly made him feel. He struggled to keep a straight face, being only marginally successful, judging by the growing fury in Akira's eyes. "Wow, you… you've been keeping count. That's er… impressive?"

"DO YOU DENY IT?"

Kisuke let out a bemused chuckle, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Deny what… exactly? I mean… Rock-paper-scissors is pure luck," he said, taking a leaf out of Akira's book and turning to their playmates for support. A few nodded in response. "Isn't it?" Kisuke said, turning to Akira again. "How could I have _possibly_ cheated in something like that?" he asked. It was only for a split second, but for that brief period, while everyone's eyes were locked on Akira in disbelief at his outburst, Kisuke gave the boy just a hint of a smirk. It was an acknowledgement, a congratulations even for his astuteness to have realized something was amiss, but it was also a clear taunt: he had absolutely no way of proving it and they both knew it.

Perhaps he'd pushed his luck a little harder than he should have, Kisuke mused, but it was all worth it just to see Akira almost froth at the mouth, clearly struggling to come up with a way to explain what he couldn't fully understand to begin with. It would've been a triumphant moment, if Akira, clever enough to know when he'd been beaten, hadn't shifted his attention back to Yoruichi.

"You should hurry up and have your father seal the deal," he told her. "Don't want to have him betrothed to anyone else; the wildcat and the freak, a match made in heaven."

Yoruichi launched herself on Akira before Kisuke could even blink. By the time either he or anyone was able to react, she had already knocked a tooth out, her fist red with Akira's blood, and was straddling his lower back, pinning his limbs down so that all he could do was spit and curse at her in futility. The reactions from the rest of the children were split: most of them were cheering for a fight -_What __**fight**__? She's already won— _while the rest looked torn between excitement and worry that a grown-up would show up any minute now.

"SAY YOU'RE SORRY!" Yoruichi shrieked, repositioning one arm to secure both of Akira's at once, while using her now free hand to grab a hold of his hair.

To his credit, Akira had yet to dissolve into tears and beg for forgiveness, though he looked like he very much wanted to. "DROP DEAD, YOU DOG-FACED DEMON!"

_Wow. Gotta give him points for alliteration._

"_SAY_ IT!"

"NEVER!"

As Yoruichi and Akira kept flinging insults at each other, Yoruichi giving his hair a good tug for emphasis with every syllable, Kisuke started to ponder on the best way to break up the fight. He couldn't deny he was deriving great pleasure from the sight, but not only was someone bound to notice the commotion soon enough, he was also worried that things might get completely out of hand and Yoruichi would land in actual trouble. His thoughts were cut short when a whisper rose among the other children, indicating that they had already been found out. Kisuke followed the crowd's gaze, then felt his stomach drop when he saw Ms. Fujiwara hurrying down the grassy hill along with one of the estate guards.

_Ohhhhh boy._ Out of time to come up with anything more refined, he hurried forward and wrapped one arm around Yoruichi's middle, placing the other up across her chest, hand resting on her shoulder. "Yoruichi—"

"LET GO!"

"Ms. Fujiwara," he whispered into her ear, pointing with his head toward the two approaching adults.

"Oh… crap," Yoruichi muttered under her breath, her shoulders drooping. Resigning herself to her fate, she let Kisuke lift her up to her feet, the fight slowly leaving her body.

The following few minutes felt like hours. Ms. Fujiwara, looking livid, had demanded an explanation. It took a long bout of silence filled with downcast eyes and shuffling feet until someone spoke, and even then, it was only because Ms. Fujiwara threatened the entire class with an extra four hours of history lessons every day for the foreseeable future. Little by little, the story was wrenched out of the tight-lipped children, until their teacher had a –mostly- accurate idea of what had transpired. True to form, she had been fair when dealing out punishment; both Yoruichi and Akira got the brunt of her wrath, but the rest of their company wasn't spared as they were admonished for not having intervened sooner. Her eyes had rested just a fraction longer on Kisuke's face as she'd said those last few words. She declared them all partly responsible for the incident and ordered them to compose an essay each on what they should've done differently. Yoruichi and Akira were sent to their respective rooms with extra homework assigned, told there would be no more outings for either of them for the rest of the weekend, not even for meals which would be brought to their quarters instead.

All in all, the atmosphere as they all made it back inside the estate was not unlike that of a funeral. Kisuke kept trying to make eye contact with Yoruichi, but she refused to look up from the floor, her eyes still bright with anger. He gave up by the time they reached his apartment, watching her departing form forlornly before Ms. Fujiwara hissed at him to get inside and start working on his essay until dinner time. "Yes, Ms. Fujiwara," he muttered, and quickly complied, slipping through the door.

The apartment was empty, his mother not having returned yet from her afternoon meeting with her peers. Asuka, her handmaiden, wasn't scheduled to return until before dinner, either. Kisuke checked the small golden clock on the stand by the door. 5:12 p.m. Dinner was at 7. It was Saturday, which meant that at this hour, Yoruichi's mother was at her weekly flower arrangement class with the rest of the court ladies. Ms. Fujiwara would have to wait until the end of class to inform her of the spat between her daughter and nephew. _More than enough time._

Feeling confident he was correct in his assessment, Kisuke waited for a few moments, then reopened the apartment door and took a peek outside to make sure the coast was clear. He tried to act casual as he made it down the hallways toward the east wing of the estate, where the Shihouin apartments were located. Naturally, that particular block was far more heavily guarded, but he wasn't likely to be questioned about his presence there; it wouldn't be the first time he called on Yoruichi. Still, he couldn't ignore the possibility that Ms. Fujiwara had distinctly forbidden guests in the princess's apartment for now, so as he delved deeper into the Shihouin wing, he began to consider ways to mask his presence.

Eventually, he made it to Yoruichi's corridor and took a careful look around the corner. As always, the two sentries tasked with her protection stood outside the door, vigilant. A distraction may have worked with a single guard, but it definitely wouldn't with two. His only two options for moving forward were to either go to the end of the hallway, open the window and magically scale the naked walls to Yoruichi's suite, or turn the corner down to her corridor and make up some sort of feeble excuse both guards would immediately dismiss. _All right, hidden option number three, _Kisuke thought, stepping over to the opposite side of the hallway and hugged the wall, making use of the sparse lighting and shsdows to reach the window unseen.

Carefully, he pulled it open and climbed up to the sill, willing himself not to look down. With one hand clasping the edge of the windowsill, he climbed over to the other side, coming to a stop as soon as he felt his feet hit the shingles of the roof. There was nowhere to go from there, unless he was looking for a swift death, but the small outcrop did have a view of Yoruichi's room. Kisuke bent down, running his palm over the violet shingles until he spotted a loose one and was able to break off a small piece. Biting his lip, he aimed, then flung it towards the only visible window that belonged to Yoruichi's room. The hit was successful, but was long enough before he got any kind of response that Kisuke was already down on his knees, looking for a new piece, when Yoruichi finally opened her window.

It took her a while to spot him, but when she did, she had to do a double-take at the sight of him kneeling out by the ledge, waving at her like it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing. He didn't have to be able to read lips to understand she was mouthing something along the lines of "What are you doing?"

Kisuke pointed toward the window he had just crawled out of, but Yoruichi simply shook her head, not understanding. He then imitated a guard and shielded his eyes with his palm, hoping she would see what he was getting at. It took her a moment, but she seemed to have caught on. Nodding, she held up her thumb, then closed her window again.

Kisuke climbed back into the building, waiting until he heard the distant sound of Yoruichi's door opening in order to shut the window. Standing on tip-toe, he approached the corner and took a careful look. He could hear Yoruichi talking, but he was far enough that the conversation wasn't clear. The tone of her voice seemed to indicate she was asking for something, in a rather mincing manner, no less. The guard on the left, the one she was addressing, hesitated but eventually caved to her request and abandoned his post. Yoruichi turned to the other man next, the one Kisuke recognized as Sakumo, and she started talking to him, keeping him with his back turned to the corridor.

Recognizing this as his cue to act, Kisuke quickly took off his sandals and hugged the wall again, tip-toeing as fast and as silently as he could toward the door. As he got closer, he could hear Sakumo's stentorian voice while he entertained Yoruichi with some of his raunchier haikus. He truly had to give her props for her timing; as Sakumo reached the end of another haiku and she saw that Kisuke was still a few steps away, Yoruichi feigned ignorance, pretending not to get the joke. Sakumo laughed, then set about explaining it in as delicate terms as he could. When Kisuke was only a couple of steps away, Yoruichi broke into near-hysterical laughter, giving him more than enough cover to mask the noise he was about to make as he slipped into her apartment.

The second he was in the clear, Kisuke's knees gave out and he sank to the floor, his heart racing. Yoruichi remained outside, still making idle conversation with Sakumo. The reason for her delay became apparent when the second guard returned. Yoruichi thanked him profusely, making her way inside at last.

"Now get back to your homework, and keep this quiet, all right?" Sakumo said, as he closed the door behind her. "Or that teacher of yours will have my hide."

Yoruichi, now carrying a plate full of rice crackers, gave Sakumo a military salute, a cracker sticking out of her grinning mouth.

The door closed with a loud thud and Kisuke was finally able to breathe normally, still sprawled out on the floor. He gave her a questioning look.

Yoruichi finished eating her cracker and indicated the plate. "Told Hibiki I couldn't wait till dinner and he brought me a snack," she explained.

Kisuke nodded, setting his sandals aside by the door and getting up to his feet, still a little adrenaline-pumped by the stunt they'd just pulled. "Need help with that homework?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"That's what you're here for?" Yoruichi asked, arching both eyebrows.

"Uhh… yeah," Kisuke said, a little puzzled by the question. It wasn't as though they could freely play a game with the guards standing right outside the door.

Yoruichi gave him a very odd, calculating look, then she shrugged and marched off toward her study area. "Come on, then," she said.

He had been in her apartment before, but the visits were short-lived enough that he hadn't truly appreciated till now just how large it was compared to any other living quarters he'd visited in the castle. If he had to guess, he'd say that Yoruichi was the only child in the estate below the age of one hundred and thirty living in an apartment completely separate to that of her parents. He doubted even her cousins were afforded that privilege. Her bedroom door was drawn shut, but judging by the rest of the apartment, it was the size of both his and his mother's combined, no doubt outfitted with a walk-in closet holding all the finery she was required to don as the heir to the Shihouin name. The large living room serving as a dining hall and study was as large as the one in their apartment, but it was decorated with the most refined, luxurious furniture and pieces of art Kisuke had ever seen. The majority of the room, however, looked as though it might have only just been furnished; knowing Yoruichi, she had no use for the large cherry wood table, or the priceless jade artifacts sitting daintily upon the many gleaming surfaces. It was clear that she spent most of her day in the open study by the right side of the room: the area surrounding her low desk had a far cozier, lived-in feel to it than the rest of the apartment did. Currently, the study was overflowing with a mass of comfortable, fluffy pillows strewn about haphazardly, the desk heaving with various books and scrolls.

Yoruichi plopped down onto the pillows, pushing her inkwells aside to make room for the bowl. She reached for another cracker, then busied herself with the open, half-finished scroll on the desk before her.

Kisuke joined her, taking a seat right across the desk, feeling a little baffled by her attitude. It didn't take a master reader of physical cues to discern that she was displeased about something he'd said or done, but he had no idea what that might be. He would've understood if she was still upset about her fight with Akira, perhaps blamed him in part for it, but she'd been acting perfectly normal up until he'd offered to help with her homework. His back ramrod straight, Kisuke fiddled with his hands, observing Yoruichi for any visible clue as to what had changed her mood so suddenly. She had yet to speak to him, and was seemingly absorbed by –he squinted as he tried to read her writing upside down- their math assignment.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Kisuke cleared his throat gently. "So, umm… What can I do?"

Without looking up from her scroll, Yoruichi said, "You're the one who showed up eager to help. What do you wanna do?"

"I just thought… if I helped you out we could get it done quickly and you won't have to spend all weekend studying," Kisuke said. "So anything's fine."

"I dunno, last time we studied together you weren't very helpful," Yoruichi said, shrugging. "Lost half an hour arguing about who was right, another half hour with me reading out my notes to you to prove _I_ had it right, and we still only got a 78%."

Kisuke bit on the inside of his cheek hard to keep himself from saying something he might regret. He remembered the incident she was referring to all too well. Normally, it was Yoruichi who set the pace in their study sessions, pushing him through the kind of work he found mind-numbing. They had a very efficient system, with her tackling the easier assignments while he worked on their 'weekend projects', then a session during which they tutored one another through concepts each had difficulty grasping, and the study period ended with Kisuke copying the work Yoruichi had completed at the start. All right, so perhaps it wasn't a very fair system for _her_, but it _was_ efficient and it did afford him the time to come up with games they both found satisfying. Was she perhaps fed up with their arrangement? He couldn't really blame her if that was the case.

The unfairness of their system aside, the study session she was talking about had been an unmitigated disaster. Looking over Yoruichi's work at the end, Kisuke had noticed a few glaring mistakes, the kind he couldn't believe someone as bright as Yoruichi would ever make. When he'd pointed them out, she had insisted she had done nothing wrong, and showed him the notes in question. Kisuke had known, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was mistaken, but for reasons he couldn't bring himself to reveal to her, he had gone along with it. He could've sworn that when they got their marked work back, he'd seen Yoruichi out of the corner of his eye, smirking at his grimace.

"I promise I'll do a better job proof-reading this time around," Kisuke forced himself to say, grinning. "We probably didn't spend long enough checking for more mistakes last time."

Yoruichi looked up from her scroll at long last, but it wasn't a pleasant expression Kisuke was met with. Lips pursed, brow knit, she gave him the kind of look she reserved for people who tried her patience to the limit. "Mmm-hmmm," was all she said, not bothering to disguise the wry tone, then rolled her eyes back down to her work.

"Okay, _what_ did I do?" Kisuke asked, unwilling to dance around the subject anymore. "It's obviously not about the fight, or you wouldn't have helped me sneak in, so what is it about this homework thing that's upset you so much?"

Taking in a deep, calming breath, Yoruichi set her brush down very slowly. When she made eye-contact again, she no longer looked annoyed, or in the mood for sarcasm; her eyes were alight with pure anger. "What you did is that you _lied_ to me!"

"What? When did I ever—?"

Yoruichi grabbed her spare –thankfully sealed- inkwell and threw it straight at him, hitting him on the shoulder.

Kisuke barely had the presence of mind to conceal his yowl of pain into a semi-convincing fit of coughing, before he turned to her, his expression matching hers. "What was _that_ for?" he hissed at her, struggling to keep his voice low and not alert the two guards outside that Yoruichi was not alone.

"Stop lying about lying!" Yoruichi shot back, index finger pointing at him.

"But I don't underst—"

"You didn't come here to _help me with homework_," Yoruichi said, placing her palms on the desk and leaning closer to him. "You came here because you felt guilty. Which is stupid, by the way."

Kisuke rubbed his sore shoulder, tearing his gaze away from Yoruichi. How could she possibly have known? "I… I really don't—"

"You don't have to feel guilty for what Akira did today," Yoruichi said, falling back onto the pillows, arms folded. "If you hadn't messed with him in rock-paper-scissors, he would've still found another excuse to be a jerk, it's what he _does_. He was ruining everyone's playtime long before you came here."

"You… You shouldn't let Akira get to you," Kisuke said. "He's just sore because he's ten years older than you, but he's still seventh in line to be the heir. Plus, he hasn't once beaten you in anything, especially combat training."

Yoruichi's expression softened for just a fraction of a moment, her cheeks reddening, but she caught herself and tightened her folded arms. "First of all, _duh_, second, I can't believe you call everyone but me by their last names but you still call that jerkface by his first name."

"You have three uncles, three aunts and eight cousins, and that's just on your dad's side. I can't call all of you Shihouin in the same conversation; it'll get very confusing."

"Fine, whatever. Oh and _third,_ don't try to change the subject," she said. "This is about you lying to me and I want to know _why_."

Kisuke avoided her gaze again, at a loss of what to say. How would he even _begin_ to go about this? He'd never deceived her out of malice, or any intent to make fun of her, he had to make that clear, but he had many good reasons for having been dishonest about certain things, reasons that had nothing to do with how he felt about her, about what they had.

Yoruichi let out a sigh, reaching for the bowl of crackers and pulling out one. "Okay, we'll do this the hard way then," she said, stuffing half a cracker into her mouth. She appeared to be thinking about how to proceed next and only spoke once she was done chewing. "I know about the rock-paper-scissors thing. I have _no_ idea how you do it, but it's always fun to see Akira lose his marbles over it. I guess it has to do with you being a genius or something? Like, you can predict what he's gonna do next because he's such a sucky actor?"

Kisuke felt his shoulders seize up first, then his entire body. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to look at Yoruichi. She was staring back at him a little impatiently, but at the very least, all vestiges of anger had drained away from her face. "…Something like that."

Yoruichi nodded, scarfing down the other half of the cracker. "First week here, you asked Instructor Mori something after math class," Yoruichi said. "I dunno what it was, but he was freaking out about it to Ms. Fujiwara at diner, I heard. Then I started to notice things, too. I mean, I could see you were clever, but you did hide just how clever pretty well. And then you slipped up once. I memorized something I read in my father's library about binding spells, some term or something, no idea what it meant, and mentioned it when you were too busy thinking about something else to notice. You just answered, not missing a beat, and I couldn't even understand what you'd just said. Then there's also the whole building stuff thing. You're an inventor. They're usually pretty smart. And before you say anything, I _do_ know I was wrong in our last study session. I did it on purpose, rewrote all my notes with mistakes just to see how far you were gonna go with it. I was impressed you stuck it out all the way to the end."

All Kisuke could do was gape as Yoruichi explained in detail exactly how she had seen through his cover. If she was impressed he had stuck to his story, he was doubly impressed at the amount of effort she had put into forcing him to admit he'd been lying to her.

"So," Yoruichi said, setting the bowl down on the desk again. "Now that I've proven I am a _master_ detective and you are a _filthy _liar, are you gonna tell me why? I mean, I honestly don't get it. It's usually stupid people who act like they're smarter. You're, like, off the charts smart. So why are you pretending to be an idiot, idiot?"

It was the look in her eyes that made it impossible for him to maintain the ruse. She was genuinely interested, she actually _cared_ about the hows and whys of his elaborate act, and all of a sudden, Kisuke felt the full weight of his constant effort to be someone he wasn't strain his shoulders. He was _exhausted_. And even more importantly, he didn't want to lie to Yoruichi anymore. "Because if I don't…" he began, worrying his fingers. "You… You won't like me anymore."

It was clearly not the response Yoruichi had expected. "Why would you think that?" she asked, her eyes softening.

There was a long pause before he responded, and in the end, he was only able to do so when he wasn't facing her. Feeling his cheeks flush, he wrapped his arms tightly around his middle, staring at his knees. "Experience."

He could remember, with perfect clarity, the first time he had been assigned a tutor back at the Urahara manor. He had always assumed that to be brimming with questions was the ordinary state of all beings, as his mother had always been patient enough to answer them all for him. What was even more wonderful was that through their conversations, he found that sometimes, instead of receiving the information he'd sought, he had formed new questions instead, ones that delved deeper into the core of the subject he was interested in. The day he realized his tutors either weren't so patient, or as knowledgeable as his mother, he had taken pause. Every now and then, he would ask something that apparently didn't merit an answer, but a puzzling expression in response. Kisuke had seen that look before, on his cousins, his uncles and aunts, his paternal grandparents, but he had never been able to pinpoint its exact nature until that moment.

It was fear.

He'd understood then, what his mother had been trying to shield him from all those years. Knowing her, she must have received her fair share of similar looks when unravelling the depths of her brilliant mind out in the open. They were different, the two of them, and he knew it was part of the reason why the rest of their clan had always kept them at arm's length.

What pained him the most, was that without even realizing it, his mother had always treated him like he was different as well. The looks she gave him were always filled with pride and love, but they were still a reminder of the fact that he didn't fit in anywhere. She had known the loneliness and despair that came with being apart from the crowd, and Kisuke had hoped this would've taught her better, but he suspected she was instead trying to counter the rejection he experienced with an equally strong positive force. He was grateful to her for it, he loved her for it, but he'd always wished she could see how her singling him out, even under a positive light, could be equally problematic.

In the years before they'd moved to the Shihouin Castle, Kisuke had developed his own coping methods to deal with either situation. When it came to his father's family, he learned very quickly that any awkward moment could be defused with a well-placed distraction. Whether it was their usual scorn of them both due to his mother's heritage, or their fear of her cleverness, he knew exactly how to direct their attention elsewhere. Even if his clan didn't quite share his sense of humor, the result was always the desired one; it took the pressure off either one or both of them, and it left Kisuke looking like an idiot. He was certain his family wasn't quite convinced he had suddenly turned from an inquisitive person to a bumbling buffoon, but that had never been his goal, anyway; he was now considered eccentric enough not to be seen as a threat to them in any way and that suited him just fine. Feigning ignorance wasn't a trick that was going to work in front of his mother, but it worked wonders for his peers and tutors. It had been a delicate balance to achieve, but he knew by now exactly how much to say and how much to hide to keep his academic performance from disappointing his mother.

The only wrench in his well-honed defense mechanism was Yoruichi. He couldn't quite put it to words, what their association was, exactly. The word 'friend' felt alien to him, simply because he wasn't positive on what constituted a friend. He understood it on an intellectual level, observed the way such relationships worked in their world, but he knew instinctively that he'd never made a friend before in his life. A combination of his personality and his mother's determination to keep him sheltered had resulted in very little social interaction outside of his immediate family. What little socialization managed to slip through the cracks had always been awkward and fraught with long pauses and cagey words. Yoruichi was the first person to ever express the slightest interest in spending time with him, and it made Kisuke both wary and excited.

She was clever; perhaps not in the same way he was, but her quick reflexes extended far beyond the classroom. If he had to describe her in one word, it would be adaptable; Yoruichi didn't waste her time analyzing situations to death. She dealt with whatever came her way without batting an eyelash, and if a more prudent strategy was needed, she knew when to retreat and consider her next step carefully. One thing they had in common was their curiosity, but whereas Kisuke needed to prod and search deeper before acting, Yoruichi was satisfied with a working understanding of the principles if it satisfied her current needs. Her fierceness was what had impressed him the most when they'd first met, but it was the small, nearly imperceptible ways in which she showed her gentler side that had won him over: her sense of humor, the way she never abused her social standing, her willingness to fight for what she believed in. She carried the weight of the Shihouin name, all twenty-one generations of it on her young shoulders, and she did it with grace and humility, all the while knowing that no less than fourteen people living under the same roof as her were waiting in the wings, hoping she would one day fail. She was extraordinary, and Kisuke still couldn't believe a person like her had taken an interest in him in the first place.

It was embarrassing to realize now how naïve he'd been, thinking he would be perfectly content to go through life without the companionship of his peers. Once he had gotten a taste of what it felt like to have a friend like her, he had instantly become addicted to it. How could he possibly explain all this to her, why he felt the need to pretend? It had been difficult enough to keep up the act for so long, but once he'd seen Yoruichi wasn't easily fooled, he'd had to redouble his efforts. Whatever it was he was projecting to others through his performance, it was obviously something that appealed to Yoruichi, and knowing his real self would undoubtedly put her off. Statistically speaking, it was an absolute certainty, given his past experiences. He didn't know if they were friends yet, but he hadn't been willing to push the boundaries of the first genuinely rewarding, non-familial relationship of his life for something as prosaic as an unnecessary truth.

"Well, guess what?" Yoruichi said. "I don't like you when you play stupid. At first I thought you were just bored in class or something, so I thought it was fine, none of my business. I get not wanting to attract the attention of morons who are intimidated by you. But when you did it to _me_… it just… it really pissed me off. Because I've _never_ lied to you, and I've _never_ felt intimidated because you're smart. I'm not hanging out with you for your _brains_."

"Then…?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "You're fun. You come up with new games all the time and you're nice. But not so nice that you're boring; you like to tease people as much as I do, you're just a stinkin' liar and don't want to admit it. And I don't care if you lie to other people, but don't ever lie to me again, okay?"

Kisuke couldn't help but smile at her, wondering if she had the slightest inkling of how much he'd been yearning to hear that someone other than his mother like him for who he was. That his intellect didn't matter one way or the other, but was simply a part of who he was and was accepted as such. Nodding at Yoruichi, silently vowing to keep his promise and never lie to her again, he struggled to keep himself together and not do something utterly embarrassing, like cry.

"And start telling people you're a lazy bum who would be failing _everything_ if it wasn't for me!" Yoruichi added for good measure.

Kisuke let out a chuckle at her outburst. _Okay, yeah, I probably deserve that. _"I'm not lazy."

"Yes you are, you're just all 'Yes, Ms. Fujiwara,' 'Of _course_, Ms. Fujiwara,'" Yoruichi said, her voice taking on a servile, overly girlish tone as she performed her impression of him. "And then copy all my work and everyone thinks _I'm_ the one mooching off _you_!"

"But that frees up time for me to come up with the rules for stuff like Sling Shot."

Yoruichi opened her mouth once, clearly about to respond, but seemed to think better of it as she considered what he'd just said. She closed her mouth again and blinked at him, looking puzzled but also intrigued. "Slingshot?"

"No: Sling. Shot. Two words. But I… should probably call that a working title, come to think of it," Kisuke said.

"…What's Sling Shot?"

"Just what it sounds like."

"It sounds like you fire stuff off a sling."

"Yup."

"But what _rules_? How is that different from using an _actual_ slingshot?"

"It's three and a half feet tall and launches _you_ into the air. And into the koi pond. You score points for best landing. Hence the rules."

Yoruichi's eyes hazed over as she undoubtedly tried to picture the contraption. She looked exhilarated at the idea. And a little scared.

_Excellent Sling Shot attitude, really. Damn, I should think of a new name, it __**really**__ doesn't work, _he thought."I still need to fine-tune it, but it should be ready for a test run next weekend. Y'know… if you don't knock a few more of Akira's teeth out and get grounded again."

Yoruichi scrunched her nose up at him, dismissing his taunt. "Yeah, well, I would try _your_ way of shutting him up, but I can't read minds, or whatever it is you do."

"I could teach you the trick."

"Really?" she said, leaning over the desk eagerly.

He didn't know if he should take it personally that the thought of messing with her cousin appealed to her more than the machine he'd been working on for _weeks_, but he let it go. Making Akira froth at the mouth _was_ very entertaining, after all. "Sure," he said. "It's not that hard, it just takes time, and all you have to do is observe, really. Most people tend to use the same move when they win. But when they lose, they'll usually switch. The most common pattern is rock-paper-scissors-rock. But then you have to be careful with personal cues. Your cousin, for example, gets angrier the more he loses and actually does the opposite of what he _thinks_ I expect him to do. It's not an entirely useless strategy, but his biggest problem is that he's got tells all over the place. He tends to square his shoulders when he's bluffing, so I know to switch as well. I'll admit, sometimes I've just gone with my hunch and gotten lucky, but about 88% of the time he's been pretty transparent about it."

Yoruichi fell back onto the pillows with a flop. "I think I liked it better when you were stupid," she said. It was clearly meant to be a joke, but Kisuke couldn't help the instant, physical response he had to the remark. His distress must've been so apparent, that Yoruichi immediately let out a snort of laughter. "Man, you're _easy_! I think I'll stick with violence though, thank you."

"Suit yourself," he said, a little embarrassed he had fallen for her taunt for even a fraction of a second.

She gave him a cheeky grin, then, without another word, she pushed her unfinished math homework at him and reached out for her kanji textbook instead. "All right, let's get this over with; I wanna hear more about Sling Shot later."

Kisuke returned her grin, taking the scroll of parchment and rolling it out in front of him. They fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally broken by the sound of one of them –mostly her- reaching for a cracker, or the sound of a brush being tapped against an inkwell. Kisuke willed his wandering mind to concentrate on the task, get it out of the way so they could move on to something more entertaining, but his thoughts kept flitting back to their previous conversation.

He looked up from his work, chin resting on his balled fist, and observed Yoruichi as she lounged back against the pillows, her hose buried behind her textbook. Every now and then, she would close her eyes and move her mouth, no doubt trying to memorize things like stroke order, pronunciation and exceptions, where applicable. Biting down on his lower lip, he waited until she was done with her current page, before looking back down at his scroll and forcing himself to look nonchalant. "So… You're not mad anymore?" he asked, venturing a careful look to see her reaction.

Yoruichi looked up from her book, shrugging. "Well… As long as you don't keep lying to me, we're cool. So no, not mad."

"And… you still like me?"

"Ugh, you're such a pansy sometimes!" she said, rolling her eyes at him. "And they say it's girls who wanna talk about their_ feeeeelings_ all the time." He watched as she hid behind her book again, shaking her head at him. She kept her eyes glued on the page, her pose a little stiffer than it had been before. Over the rim of the book, he could only make out the top of her forehead and curiously enough, she appeared to be blushing, just a touch. "Of course I like you, you idiot. We're friends."

She didn't say another word for the ensuing hour, nor did she lower her textbook again. Kisuke was thankful for that. If she had, she might've seen the idiotic grin that refused to leave his face no matter how hard he tried.

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_**JUNE 2**__**ND**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIBA CLAN MANOR, COURT OF PURE SOULS**_

.

Yoruichi ran her thumb over the rim of her teacup, staring down at the clear green liquid, too overwhelmed to let her gaze false elsewhere.

She hadn't been fooled; when her mother had proclaimed that they would be visiting the Shiba household for afternoon tea, Yoruichi had understood that it wasn't going to be a simple social call. For one thing, though the two clans were on excellent terms and her mother met with Lady Shiba Etsuko on a regular basis, Yoruichi had never before been invited along. Secondly, she had enough older cousins to know that she was at the age where betrothals were starting to be considered, and given how rare trueborn heirs were in their world, the choices were limited. As she understood the custom, the agreement didn't become official until much later in life, mostly because a big difference in ages wasn't a detriment to an engagement. Once both parties reached adulthood, true age only mattered in terms of spiritual power, after all. Or so she had been told.

Despite having known all her life that this was what the future had in store for her in terms of marriage, Yoruichi had difficulty meeting her intended's eyes. The boy, Shiba Kaien they'd called him, was a couple of decades younger than she was and looked like he hadn't quite grasped what was happening, as he happily sat by his mother, every now and then throwing Yoruichi curious glances. Lady Etsuko was deep in conversation with Yoruichi's mother, occasionally directing questions to her daughter Kuukaku. Whenever Yoruichi's eyes left her cup, she would often direct them at the older girl in fascination; Kuukaku Shiba was the perfect picture of what a young noblewoman was expected to be. Beautiful, quiet and well-spoken, her posture and mannerisms betraying the decades of hard work it must've taken to hone them down to the graceful result before her eyes. Yoruichi would know; she had no memories of a time when she wasn't being taught how a lady was meant to speak, act and move.

As Lady Etsuko turned the conversation to the traditional December celebration of the Shihouin clan, Kuukaku Shiba turned toward Yoruichi. Yoruichi looked away, blushing at having been caught staring. She didn't want the older girl to think her a fool, especially if they would one day become sisters-in-law.

"Mother, why don't I take Kaien and Princess Yoruichi out for a walk in your lovely azalea garden?" Kuukaku said, taking advantage of a natural pause in their mothers' conversation. Yoruichi froze. Rude though her fixation had been, she hadn't expected Kuukaku to acknowledge it out in the open, even in such a round-about manner. She was under no delusions that Kuukaku had suddenly felt the urge to take her for a walk; the timing was a little too suspicious. "This is a discussion for grown-ups, after all, and I'm certain it would be a splendid opportunity for them to get to know one another," Kuukaku said, smiling softly.

Yoruichi kept her eyes away from Kuukaku, hoping Lady Etsuko would refuse. Not only did she not want to spend any time whatsoever with Shiba Kaien, she was certain Kuukaku would –rightly- admonish her for gaping at her.

"What a lovely idea," Lady Etsuko said, much to Yoruichi's chagrin. "You're right, my dear, I haven't seen Lady Hana in so long we got a little carried away. You weren't too terribly bored, were you, Princess Yoruichi?"

Yoruichi looked up timidly, clutching her cup and shaking her head.

"You are too polite," Lady Etsuko said, letting out a trill of laughter. "Kaien, you can only take one," she told her son, who had his hand wrist deep into the bowl of crackers. He stared at his mother with his large, beautiful green eyes in an expression he'd undoubtedly used to great effect in the past, but Lady Etsuko didn't budge. "You don't want to spoil your dinner. Off you go now, your sister is talking you and Princess Yoruichi for a walk."

Kuukaku stood up before her brother, offering a hand which he took readily and jumped off his seat, wrapping his free hand tightly around what Yoruichi could see were two crackers. "Coming, Princess Yoruichi?" Kuukaku said to her.

Yoruichi let her cup down gingerly and nodded, suddenly struck by how much taller Kuukaku was. Though she knew the girl wasn't older than one hundred and fifty or so, she had the appearance of a woman grown; full bosom, lustrous, beautifully combed hair and the expression of someone who could read right through her. It made Yoruichi feel even smaller and younger than her true years. Sheepishly, she followed Kuukaku and her brother out of the tea room and into the corridor outside, all the while feeling the shameful urge to run back to her mother and bury her face into her neck.

Once the door was closed behind them, Kuukaku looked down both directions across the hallway, then bent down to get closer to her brother's level. "Okay, kiddo," she said, her soft lilt and perfect posture suddenly forgotten. "You wanna go for a walk with us or would you rather go play with Kiba?"

Kaien's eyes lit up at the suggestion, but he suddenly looked conflicted. He stuck half a cracker in his mouth, looking from his sister to Yoruichi and back again, munching loudly. "I want to ask Princess Yoruichi if she likes sweet dango or savery—"

"Savory."

"—savory best."

"Well, she's right there," Kuukaku said. "Go on, ask her."

Kaien stepped up closer to her, the cracker now long gone, and repeated his question. Yoruichi blinked at him a couple of times, not quite certain what was going on, before she said, "Savory."

The boy gave her a toothy grin, his cheeks littered with crumbles, and then he bolted right back to his sister. "Okay, I'll go play with Kiba now."

"You do that," Kuukaku said, smiling fondly at him. "And remember," she said, holding up her index finger against her lips. Kaien mimicked her pose, then Kuukaku gave him a playful swat on his behind and watched him traipse down the corridor until he took a right turn and was out of their sight. Standing up at her full height again, she turned to Yoruichi. "It's how he judges if he likes someone. You passed," she said, grinning.

Yoruichi gave Kuukaku a weak smile in return, still at a loss with what had just transpired. Originally, she had thought that Kuukaku Shiba had wanted to talk to her in private either to admonish her, or perhaps to ascertain if she was good enough for her little brother. Given what she'd just seen, however, Yoruichi understood that Kuukaku's previous performance of a perfect lady was a very impressive, carefully executed act.

"Let's you and I go for that walk, shall we?" Kuukaku said, marching over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Not the azalea garden, though, smell makes me nauseous."

Emboldened by the lack of any reproach, Yoruichi finally found her voice again and looked up at the girl. "Where are we going?"

"I was thinking I might take you to the herb garden," Kuukaku said. "It's nice and quiet, fewer prying eyes. What do you say?"

"Sure."

The two walked in silence though the estate's hallways, Yoruichi keeping her eyes focused in front of her, pretending not to notice the furtive looks Kuukaku shot her every now and then. As they made their way around the azalea garden –_She was right, the smell __**is **__pretty overpowering-_ the older girl finally spoke.

"I think I've seen you once or twice before," she said, her brow knit. "At your family's annual end of December festival. What's it called again?"

"You mean the Founding Day celebration?" Yoruichi asked.

"Yes, that. I visited with my father a few times for the delivery. I think we even attended a few years ago. We provide the fireworks, you know."

"I do know that," Yoruichi said. "They're always wonderful; your clan is very talented, Lady Shiba."

Kuukaku's expression turned from mild interest to amusement. "Oh, you're _good_," she said, chuckling.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that the last time I saw you, you were being chased by your governess out of a koi pond and forced into clothes," Kuukaku said, folding her hands behind her back. "But look at you now, all lady-like and_ proper_."

Yoruichi couldn't recall the specific occasion Kuukaku was referring to, but it had once been common enough an occurrence that it was pointless to question the truth of her claim. She blushed at the thought of having been called out this way, before she remembered that the Shiba girl had just revealed herself to be of a similar disposition.

"You're one to talk," Yoruichi said, boldly meeting the challenge in Kuukaku's eyes.

The girl's eyebrows arched upwards and disappeared under her thick, black fringe of hair, before she burst into laughter. "Guilty as charged," she said. "So, shall we drop this Lady Shiba, Lady Shihouin nonsense? I'm Kuukaku," she said, coming to a stop and holding her hand out to Yoruichi.

"Yoruichi," she said and reached out to slip her smaller hand in Kuukaku's, now smiling genuinely at her.

Kuukaku returned the smile, then let go of their joined hands and motioned behind her with her head. "C'mon, Yoruichi," she said, striding down the path and into what Yoruichi assumed was the herb garden she'd mentioned earlier.

The way ahead was paved in porous, red stone, branching out in perfectly aligned horizontal and vertical directions. Yoruichi had first assumed the garden was square in shape, but the plants surrounding her extended far beyond what she could see in her immediate vision, suggesting something more along the lines of a rectangle. The converging paths sectioned the garden into small squares, one for each of the herb hosted within. As they moved on ahead, Kuukaku explained that everything was labeled and positioned carefully, to optimize growth according to each plant's specific needs. The few empty plots they came across every now and then had been deliberately left that way, she said, and would once again be cultivated when said herb was in season.

It was certainly an impressive part of the manor's grounds, but Yoruichi was a little confused as to what Kuukaku had brought her there for. Somehow, she doubted the girl had suddenly felt like giving a lecture on agriculture. The mystery of Kuukaku's purpose for this trip was solved when she led Yoruichi under the shade of a tree, right by a section of fragrant thyme plants. She took a seat on the small patch of grass before the tree, back resting against the bark, and then dipped her hand into her left sleeve, pulling out a long, glistening red pipe. Yoruichi noticed that something was tied underneath the nozzle, but before she could ask, her curiosity was sated as Kuukaku undid the small piece of string to release a piece of flint and a thin metal plate.

"Have a seat," she told Yoruichi, before sticking the pipe in her mouth and lighting it up.

Yoruichi sat down next to her, watching as the older girl took in a deep drag of smoke, eyes closed, then exhaled with a pleasurable sigh.

"So…" Kuukaku said, opening her eyes again and stretching out her legs. "How does it feel like to meet your future husband?" she asked. There was an edge of sarcasm to her voice as she said that, but it didn't help Yoruichi feel any more comfortable at the confronting question.

When Shiba Kuukaku had revealed her true colors a few minutes ago, Yoruichi had been more than glad for the distraction. She'd hoped the two of them would spent what little time they had doing or talking about something else, anything but the betrothal.

Kuukaku must've belatedly realized her error, as she hurried to explain herself. "Hey, hey, I was only teasing," she said, looking at Yoruichi sympathetically. "No need to make that face; it was a joke."

_Not a very funny one,_ Yoruichi thought, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging her legs. It was a difficult enough notion to wrap her head around, the thought of one day marrying that little boy, without the added pressure of having to discuss the issue with a stranger. If there was one thing that had been a source of comfort once she'd realized what this visit was all about, it was the knowledge that she wouldn't have to give the matter any serious thought for many decades, but Kuukaku's comment was forcing her to confront concepts that were simply beyond her.

"Look, Yoruichi," Kuukaku said, toying with the pipe in her hands. "The reason I brought you out here in the first place was because I thought you might benefit from the experience of someone older. Someone's who's been in your position and wasn't exactly thrilled with the situation, either."

Yoruichi rested her cheek on her knees, looking at Kuukaku. "You're betrothed, too?" she asked, but recognized the naiveté of her words as soon as they left her mouth. Kuukaku was, after all, the heir of a very prominent family and nearly a century or so older than Yoruichi herself. It was only logical that a match would have been made for her at a younger age.

"Not anymore."

It wasn't the answer Yoruichi had expected to hear. The only instances in which she had ever heard of a broken engagement, either one or both of the people involved had met their final death. There hadn't been a recent passing among nobility that she'd heard of, at least no-one who could have realistically been Kuukaku's intended.

Kuukaku took a long drag off her pipe again, staring at the distance. "It was about a year ago, but you wouldn't have heard of it. His family hushed it up as best they could," she began. "It's a good thing it ended before any official engagement ceremony, or my father might've taken offense."

The way Kuukaku spoke of the incident gave Yoruichi the impression that there was far more to the story than she was being told. The curious part of her was hoping Kuukaku might elaborate, but her more sensible side was impressed by her tact and her respect of someone else's private life. It would've been indelicate and presumptuous of Yoruichi to ask for details, seeing as they barely knew each other, so instead she went for the question that concerned her the most. "Does that… happen often?" she asked, a glimmer of hope lighting up inside of her at the new piece of information. "A betrothal ending before it can become official?"

"I wouldn't say often, but it's not unheard of," Kuukaku said. "There's few enough of us that it could become a problem if people start breaking off engagements left and right, I suppose. But that shouldn't stop you from doing what you think is best for _you_."

Yoruichi let out a sigh, one finger idly following the chrysanthemum pattern embroidered on her kimono. "Easy for you to say… You have two siblings," she said. It wasn't a secret that it had taken Yoruichi's parents a long time to secure their much-needed heir. The other three branches of her family had been more fortunate in that respect and could have easily taken over as head of the clan if she hadn't been born, but it would have been a massive blow to her father's pride; the long line starting from the first head of the Shihouin clan and ending with her had so far been unbroken. While it wasn't impossible that Yoruichi could one day have siblings, it didn't seem likely. As such, the pressure of furthering the Shihouin line fell entirely on her shoulders, whereas someone like Kuukaku could afford to be a little more lax in terms of who she married, or whether she married at all in the first place. From what Yoruichi knew of the girl, she had more than enough talent to one day join the academy and the Thirteen Divisions if she so chose.

"You got me there," Kuukaku admitted, turning to look at Yoruichi. "But hey, you know what? Maybe by the time you and Kaien grow up, I'll be the head of the family and I promise I won't take offense if you want to back out."

Even though Yoruichi knew full well this wasn't likely to happen, she was grateful to Kuukaku for suggesting it. If nothing else, it was at least a promise that she would have Kuukaku's support if she ever found that she and Kaien were truly compatible as future mates. "You… really wouldn't mind?" she asked. "If I don't want to marry your brother when I grow up?"

"You're… what? Fifty? Sixty?" Kuukaku asked.

"Sixty one in a few months," Yoruichi said a little defensively. Did she really look only fifty?

"Sixty then. Kaien is forty-three. Right now, he's in love with crackers, his puppy and the color red. Last month it was green, and he was adamant that his favorite food was botamochi," Kuukaku said. "I suspect he'll change his mind about things a thousand times before he can even fully appreciate what it means to marry someone, and so will you. Even our tight-assed clan elders understand this, which is why they don't make engagements official until later in life. So no, I really, _really_ won't be offended if you ever think my brother isn't right for you, I swear."

Yoruichi couldn't help but let out a small snort at Kuukaku's choice of words for the –admittedly- rigid clan elders. It felt a little surreal, to speak to a person who so closely resembled what Yoruichi wanted her future self to be. Kuukaku was confident, clever and she didn't shy away from a little vulgarity to get her point across.

Yoruichi had often wondered what it might be like, to have a sibling like all her cousins did. She supposed a good friend like Kisuke was the closest she would ever get, especially since they were both only children, but every example she had of relationships between friends and siblings suggested the two could be vastly different. In her mind's eye, the hypothetical sibling had always been an older brother for some reason, but when Kuukaku changed the subject and set about getting to know Yoruichi, asking her questions about her life, she was unexpectedly filled with yearning for something she hadn't realized she'd ever wanted: an older sister.

When it was time to return home, Yoruichi found herself wishing their visit could have lasted longer, that she could have spent more time laughing to Kuukaku's jokes and watching her perform small spell tricks as per Yoruichi's requests. She was unable to hide her disappointment as she stood by her mother's side, bidding farewell to the Shiba family and thanking them for a lovely evening, until Kuukaku suggested they make a habit out of meeting for a cup of tea and having lively discussions on matters that concerned proper ladies. She put some barely noticeable emphasis on the word 'proper,' giving her a wink that went unnoticed by everyone else.

Yoruichi might have hugged her, but public displays of affection were not something proper ladies ever did.

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_**OCTOBER 20**__**TH**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIHOUIN CLAN ANCESTRAL CASTLE, COURT OF PURE SOULS**_

.

For the first time in his life, books had completely and utterly failed Kisuke. The array of large volumes scattered around him on the floor of the dining room hadn't proven as helpful as he'd hoped; they spent paragraphs upon paragraphs analyzing the finer points of the differences between healing spells and offensive spells, or the intricacies of blending two different spells together, but there was little to no information on practical aspects for beginners. Clearly, most of them had been written with the intention of being used concurrently with practical lessons taught by an instructor. Letting out a huff, Kisuke closed the volume on his lap with a loud thud, pushing it away.

His curriculum included lessons on demon magic, the so-called kidou, but the name of the course was in reality no more than a technicality. Classes were centered around spirit energy manipulation, but the actual skills involved in combining the particles into a usable form weren't meant to be taught for a few more years. So far, they had only been instructed to work on maintaining any shape, no matter how amorphous, for increasing periods of time, as a means of improving their mental stamina. Having achieved the desired result long ago, Kisuke had quickly grown bored with the slow pace of the class and had decided to take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, all relevant books in the Shihouin library and his own collection were a few steps ahead of where he needed to be in order to use them effectively.

The only piece of information he had been able to work with was a footnote on the basic principle concerning all kidou applications. The paragraph suggested he picture the desired shape in mind and imagine throwing his body toward the center. Through trial and error, he discovered that the darker the shape, the better the outcome, but his first marginal success resulted in a volatile blob of red energy that bounced against the ceiling, leaving a rather noticeable burn mark before dissipating. Though hating the limitations forced upon him by his instructor, Kisuke was starting to see that perhaps the age requirement wasn't quite so arbitrary; his spiritual power was still growing, after all, and it was possible that he simply didn't have enough to both produce and maintain anything stable.

Still, he wasn't planning on quitting now that he had managed to make some small progress.

Pursing his lips, Kisuke held out his palm and closed his eyes. _Come on… come on… All I need is a sphere. Easy shape; it doesn't even have to be a perfect one. We'll start small, the size of a walnut. _In his mind's eye, a small, black sphere materialized. He saw himself jump, his body growing smaller as he approached, centered perfectly… He was going through, disappearing into the darkness, nothing left behind but the small sphere.

He felt it before he saw it with his own eyes; there was something hovering right above his skin, filling the quiet room with a gentle humming noise. The pulse of energy was perfectly synchronized with his heartbeat. Slowly cracking one eye open, Kisuke saw, at long last, the bright red sphere he had managed to produce. He let out a short pant in disbelief, but quickly reigned in his emotions when the sphere wobbled. He concentrated, forcing himself to relax again and empty his mind of all irrelevant thoughts. The sphere stabilized, casting its brilliant crimson light against his face. Biting his lip, Kisuke thought he might be pushing his luck if he tried to do more instead of work on maintaining and repeating the performance at a moment's notice, but the temptation was too strong to ignore. The sphere was already a little larger than he'd aimed for, so why not test its limits?

He poured even more of his spirit force into the spell and watched, fascinated, as it expanded, very slowly but uniformly and—

The unexpected knock on the door made his heart jump. The sphere contracted once, and Kisuke had only a second's notice that something bad was about to happen when he felt his palm grow hotter, no longer pleasantly warm but quickly turning uncomfortable. Before he could react, the sphere expanded again and popped like a soap bubble, quite literally blowing up in his face.

"Lord Urahara?"

Kisuke didn't have to look into a mirror to know his face must now be an angry shade of red; the skin felt raw and tight, and he was pretty sure the acrid scent he could smell was that of burning hair.

There was a second knock on the door. "Lord Urahara, are you in there? Is everything alright?"

Sighing, Kisuke got up and trudged toward the door. He found one of Lord Shihouin's personal guards standing outside, the man giving him a look of mixed worry and disparagement.

"Yes?" Kisuke said.

"I… have been sent to escort you to Lord Shihouin's study," the man said.

Momentarily forgetting his state and his frustration at having been interrupted, Kisuke felt his stomach clenching unpleasantly at the sound of that. _Lord Shihouin's study?_ He hadn't spoken with the man ever since their arrival at the castle more than six months ago, and he couldn't he see why he would in the near future. Was he in some sort of trouble? Had something happened to his mother?

The guard must have sensed his sudden distress, as his expression softened. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Lord Shihouin merely wishes to spend the afternoon with you, if you are available."

"Whu…?"

"I'll… give you a few minutes to freshen up, shall I? Assuming you are indeed available?"

"Yuh…"

Kisuke closed the door before any more warbling escaped his slack mouth, back pressed against the hard wood. An afternoon spent with Lord Shihouin? What possible reason could the man have for wanting to spend time with one of his councilwomen's children? Was it perhaps a gathering of sorts, for him and his peers? The guard hadn't mentioned anything about a private audience, after all, but Kisuke still couldn't quite see what he might ever discuss with Lord Shihouin, whether one-on-one or in a group. No matter what the guard said, Kisuke had a bad feeling about this meeting, but soon realized that whatever the nature of this audience, he would not be making the situation any easier if he was tardy.

Thankfully, the redness and soot on his face nearly disappeared when he washed up, but there was little he could do about a stray lock of singed hair standing out by his ear. Quickly tucking it in and out of sight, he changed his clothes and stepped outside, where the guard was waiting to escort him to the Lord's study.

The walk there seemed to take forever, as scenarios for what would happen next kept flashing in his mind, each more grim than the next. He was fairly certain Lord Shihouin couldn't possibly know he had accidentally burned their ceiling (at least not yet) a few moment's ago, but he was long past the point of rationality when faced with the ornate, carved door leading to his destination. The guard motioned at him to knock, then stood by the door, hand on his katana.

Kisuke did as instructed, trying –and failing- to calm his trembling limbs. He heard Lord Shihouin's voice from inside, granting him entrance, and swallowing hard, he removed his shoes by the entryway and pushed the door open.

Lord Shihouin's study was as impressive as any other room Kisuke had visited in the estate. It was spacious, its beige walls decorated with hanging tapestries and colorful fans. It was an unusually warm day for October and the door to the porch was open wide, bringing in a gentle, summer-like breeze that carried the aromas of the garden outside. The left side of the room was dominated by an array of bookcases, Lord Shihouin's impressive personal collection of volumes and scrolls. On the right side, Kisuke could see a beautiful shougi board laid out between two comfortable-looking crimson pillows. The middle of the room held a low, lengthy table right behind which Lord Shihouin sat, an open roll of parchment spread before him; he appeared to be in the middle of writing a letter of some sort.

He looked up upon hearing the door close behind Kisuke, offering him a gracious smile. "Ah, there you are, Kisuke. Welcome," he said.

"My Lord Shihouin," Kisuke said, bowing deeply.

"Give me a moment, please," Lord Shihouin said, sprinkling some ash on his half-finished work and putting the roll of parchment aside. He stood up, approaching Kisuke with his hands folded behind his back, a curious look glittering in his eyes. "I am told you know how to play shougi. Is this true?"

Kisuke tried not to let surprise show on his face. _Shougi? __**That's **__what I'm here for?_ "Yes, my Lord. One of my uncles taught me the rules," Kisuke said. "We played a few times."

"What would you say to joining me for some afternoon tea and a game?"

The answer came before he could even register what was being asked; thought it was never explicitly pointed out to him, Kisuke understood instinctively that saying no to Lord Shihouin was not an option. "Of course, my Lord."

Lord Shihouin gave him a knowing look, as though he understood exactly what Kisuke had just been thinking. "You don't need to feel obligated to say yes, Kisuke," he said. "I have enough men and women in my life who are paid handsomely to keep me happy. If you're otherwise engaged or not feeling up for it, feel free to say so."

Kisuke knew Lord Shihouin meant what he said, but he was certain even the man himself knew it was futile; he couldn't think of a lot of people who would be familiar enough with such a powerful man to deny any of his requests, especially someone as young as Kisuke was. Still, the option to opt out was appreciated, and more importantly, the idea of playing a game of shougi was not unappealing. Most of the games he'd played in the past had tended to come to an abrupt end just when they had been getting interesting, his uncle upending the board and stalking off. It didn't take a long time before any invitations to play stopped coming. He didn't know what kind of player Lord Shihouin would turn out to be, but Kisuke had the distinct impression he was about to play opposite a master of the game.

"Honestly, my Lord, I would really welcome a chance to play against you," Kisuke said.

Lord Shihouin smiled at him and motioned toward the porch with his palm. "Excellent. Come then, we'll have some tea while I have the board moved outside," he said. "It's too lovely a day to waste it behind four walls."

Before they had even left the room, Kisuke saw a servant hurrying along the porch, setting two plush pillows down on the floor for them. A second one, a woman this time around, came forward with two steaming cups of tea and plate of fresh-smelling rice crackers. By the time Kisuke took his seat, the refreshments had already been served. "Thank you," Kisuke told the woman, cradling his cup.

She gave him a bow and approached Lord Shihouin next, who whispered a quick order at her and pointed inside the room, at the shougi table. The woman bowed deeply once more and took her leave. "Now, then…" Lord Shihouin said, taking a small, careful sip of tea. "I don't think we've spoken in person since you arrived here, have we?"

"No, my Lord."

"Sir will do, Kisuke. How have you been adjusting so far?"

"Very well, my— sir," Kisuke said, tentatively reaching for a cracker. It was still warm to the touch and wonderfully crispy. He was tempted to dunk it into the tea, but he didn't feel quite so comfortable in the Lord's presence to be very relaxed. Hopefully, playing a game would help settle his nerves.

"I have been monitoring your academic progress for a while now," Lord Shihouin began. "It seems your tutors found you somewhat… perplexing for your first few months here. Your scores in examinations were stellar, but your performance in class less so. Not inadequate, but certainly not what one might expect, given the eloquence and sound thought process you display in your written assignments. Are you certain there is nothing you wish to share with me? Perhaps an issue with one or more of your classmates?"

By the time Lord Shihouin was done speaking, Kisuke was certain his fingers were about to break through the ceramic mug, given how tightly he was clutching it. He suddenly felt so terribly naïve, for thinking he could have kept on lying and charming his way through his schooling without anyone ever taking notice. What was startling, however, is that the lecture he had –deep down- one day expected hadn't come from his mother or his tutors themselves, but by the man before him. His mother had cautioned him time and time again that living under the Shihouin roof meant mediocre work would not be tolerated; as such it was expected that Lord Shihouin might get regular updates on the progress of all the students in the estate, but the way he had phrased it made it sound as if he had taken a personal interest in him. It was one thing to receive a generic report that he was doing well or poorly, and quite another to be given details.

"N-no, sir," Kisuke managed to squeak out, hating his voice for sounding so meek and childish. "It's just… Like you said… it's been an… adjustment. I suppose I may have been a little homesick at first," he said, inventing wildly. "But I haven't had any problems with any of my classmates; everyone has been very gracious so far."

"I am glad to hear that," Lord Shihouin said, the cold, calculating gaze he had adopted before giving way to a softer expression. "At any rate, your irregular performance seems to be a thing of the past."

Though he never said more, Kisuke had the distinct impression Lord Shihouin was indirectly asking him for assurances that his petty little tricks would not be repeated in the future. Ever. "Yes. Yes, of course," Kisuke said, immediately resolving to work harder from now on and stop relying so much on Yoruichi to get through subjects he didn't find challenging. Or at least find better, more creative ways to quickly get through the slog of mundane work before he could concentrate on more interesting matters.

"Your tutors tell me you now excel in every subject," Lord Shihouin said. "Your intuitive grasp of kidou is especially impressive. Even my daughter's understanding of the fundamentals has improved by your presence in class."

To say that Kisuke was grateful the conversation was taking a positive turn was an understatement. For a while, he had been worried the invitation to shougi had only been a pretense to mask an evening spent with Lord Shihouin admonishing him for all his shortcomings in his calm, terrifying voice. Thankfully, the man seemed to have moved on. "To be fair, sir, _her_ presence in class has improved my hand-to-hand combat skills," Kisuke said, grinning. He thought it best not to tell Lord Shihouin his previous skills had been practically non-existent.

The man laughed heartily at Kisuke's comment. "Oh, I am certain of that," he said. "I am pleased you two get along. Some healthy competition, especially when it comes to academics, can do wonders for one's motivation. A mutually beneficial relationship."

Glad though he was Lord Shihouin didn't disapprove of Kisuke's being close with his daughter, the turn of phrase didn't quite sit well with him. It made their friendship sound more like a business transaction, whereas Kisuke had always thought of his improved skills as extra perks of being Yoruichi's friend, not the entire basis of the relationship. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to admit that out loud and hoped his face didn't betray his true feelings as he said, "Yes, sir."

"Ah, there we go," Lord Shihouin said, shifting his attention toward the study, where two of his servants had just arrived. "Over here, please," he said, pointing at the empty space between them.

The two men brought the shougi board outside with the utmost care, and Kisuke could see why: the board alone was a work of art. The black lacquered body was covered with very intricate golden drawings of a maple tree casting its leaves. The top was made of wood polished to perfection, and each individual piece had been carved and painted with equal care. The pieces had already been set up for each side, and Kisuke was impressed to see they didn't move a hair's width in transition, not even when the board was settled between them. Lord Shihouin thanked the two men who departed as quickly and discreetly as they had arrived. "Black or white?" he asked Kisuke.

"I'll take black, sir," Kisuke said, thinking he might as well start the game on his own terms.

As they worked on their respective openings, the silence and familiarity of the game finally managed to put Kisuke at ease. He suspected Lord Shihouin himself had something to do with this, as Kisuke could tell he was making a constant effort to keep his spiritual pressure as low as possible. The game itself was the strongest catalyst, however. Thinking of Lord Shihouin as simply another opponent had helped, though there was still the worry he would prove to be far too novice to uphold the Lord's interest. The Mino castle defense he was currently setting up was more than enough to betray his inexperience, but it was still a move favored by more advanced players as well.

"Tell me," Lord Shihouin said after a long silence, moving his lance three squares forward. "Do you remember the oath you and your mother swore the night you joined my house?"

"Of course, sir," Kisuke said, finding the question more than a little odd.

"You are a very clever young man; that I do know. Articulate, well-read, imaginative and perceptive. Wise beyond your years, some would call it. But do you understand what that oath means?" Lord Shihouin asked, fixing him with his gaze. "To serve someone forever?"

The compliment took him by surprise and also reinforced his previous suspicion that Lord Shihouin had showed an unusual amount of interest in his progress, for reasons unknown to Kisuke. It was a heady feeling, to be praised by such a powerful man, and if Kisuke had felt the pressure to perform well before, he felt it twice as intensely right now. "Well… The oath mentioned pledging one's gifts. Isn't it about using my talents to further honor the Shihouin name?"

Lord Shihouin smiled. "Wonderfully put," he said. "I trust Ms. Fujiwara has been teaching you the history of our clan in your lessons?"

"Yes, sir."

"Tell me then, do you know why our clan is often referred to as the House of Godly Gears?"

It was becoming a little harder to follow both the game and the conversation, especially since Lord Shihouin's cryptic words kept spawning a dozen more questions in Kisuke's head with every sentence spoken. He couldn't see what the man's train of thought was leading to, but at least the question was an easy one to answer. "Because the Shihouin clan is said to be the eternal caretaker of artifacts bestowed upon them by the gods," Kisuke said.

Lord Shihouin let his hand hover over his bishop, arching an eyebrow at Kisuke. "Your answer sounds like it was memorized from a textbook," he said, smiling wryly.

_Well, the man is nothing if not astute_, Kisuke thought, blushing deeply at his gaffe.

With the game now apparently on hold, Lord Shihouin folded his hands and ignored the board completely. "When I ask you a question, it's because I want to know what _you_ think, Kisuke."

"I…" Kisuke hesitated, staring at the board; this wasn't the type of situation where he could offer his opinion freely. The only reason he had given such a standard response in the first place was that his true thoughts on the matter could very well land him in trouble.

"You don't have to feel ashamed if you think your answer might contradict what you've been taught," Lord Shihouin said. "I assure you, I will not take offense in anything you might say."

Yet again, Kisuke understood that he was being given permission to act and say as he pleased. This time he didn't dwell on whether Lord Shihouin meant it or not, but rather resigned himself to the fact that even if he did try to lie, the man was sharp enough to tell the difference. Kisuke decided to do as he'd been told, trying to find the words to at least express his opinion in the most respectful manner possible. "Well… Obviously the part about your clan being armorers is true. It's the 'gods' part I'm not so keen on, sir."

"You mean the notion of a deity?"

"No, no, I mean the belief that the artifacts are _actually_ god-given," Kisuke said.

"I see. Go on."

"It's… uhhh…" Kisuke began. _A bunch of crap? Absolutely impossible to prove or disprove? Just a __**touch**__ conceited? _ "It sounds to me more like… folklore. Sir."

Lord Shihouin laughed at the clear discomfort Kisuke had saying even this much. "Would you not agree that there is often a figment of truth to be found in myths and legends?" he asked.

"No, of course I agree. It's how myths get started in the first place, isn't it, sir? As an explanation for something hard to believe or understand?"

Lord Shihouin nodded at him, his eyes conveying he was pleased by Kisuke's arguments so far, if not even a little impressed. "So what do you think is the truth when it comes to my clan?"

"Well, I can think of two things," Kisuke said. "The divine part is either about what I said, an explanation for an item so advanced that its creation is hard to explain, or 'handed down by the gods' is an allusion to something else. Some_one_ else, actually."

Lord Shihouin smiled again, ever so slightly, his eyes regarding Kisuke with barely contained anticipation. "And who might that 'someone else' be?"

"There's only one authority I can think of that's higher in the hierarchy than nobility. The Royal Family."

It seemed Kisuke's answer was the one Lord Shihouin had hoped to hear, or at least one he could find no fault with. He gave the boy a calculating gaze, as though he was considering how to proceed next. "That's very—" he began, but before he could put his thoughts into words, they were interrupted by the distant sound of the dinner bell. "Hmmm… that's too bad, it's already time for dinner."

Kisuke suppressed the urge to groan out loud when Lord Shihouin didn't finish his sentence. He had the distinct feeling it had been done on purpose, as though to give him something to think about once he returned to his quarters, and the need to know was gnawing at him from within. The most surprising realization, now that the evening had come to an end, was that it hadn't been entirely unpleasant. Lord Shihouin did truly appear to be an open-minded man, though Kisuke had to admit he felt the conversation might have been vastly different if his opinion didn't happen to coincide with the older man's.

"Perhaps we can leave the board as is," Lord Shihouin said. "Continue at another time."

The confirmation that this evening hadn't been a one-time event, but something the Lord looked forward to repeating made Kisuke hopeful they would also be resuming the conversation that had been left unfinished. And if nothing else, he could take pleasure in the knowledge that he would be improving his shougi skills with a more than competent adversary. "I'd like that, sir," Kisuke said.

"So would I. One more thing before you leave, Kisuke," Lord Shihouin said. "Starting next week, you will be moved to an advanced kidou class. I'm bringing in a new tutor for you and Yoruichi: a very highly-recommended academy graduate. I trust you'll be able to cope with your new workload and find the time to play a game with me every now and then?"

If there was one thing that could have turned today from a merely interesting to a genuinely good day, it had just happened. The promise that he was going to be working on something more challenging, alongside Yoruichi, no less, lifted his spirits immediately. "Of course, sir," Kisuke said, getting up and bowing deeply. "I'm very grateful for the opportunity."

"Are you talking about the kidou master or the shougi sessions?"

Kisuke grinned at that. "Both, sir."

Lord Shihouin returned the smile warmly. "Off you go, then. Enjoy your dinner."

"You, too, sir. I'll take my leave," Kisuke said, bowing once more, making his way across the room and out the door.

.

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.

_**OCTOBER 26**__**TH**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIHOUIN CLAN ANCESTRAL CASTLE, COURT OF PURE SOULS**_

.

With a sprint and dive, she took shelter under the table, coming out of a neat roll onto her knees, weapon drawn. Her heart was racing, blood pounding in her ears, as she struggled to catch her breath. She couldn't even tell how long she'd been running non-stop once she'd been left alone, bereft of any support. Survival instincts had taken over then, urging her to push forward, to reach her goal, no matter the cost. Recklessness hadn't been an option, but neither had time. She couldn't afford to stop and think, to come up with a better strategy. The moment she stopped moving was the moment she would die. Even this safe haven was only a temporary resting place; she would only allow herself a brief pause before she had to get moving again.

Closing her eyes, she took a long, deep breath in through the nose, exhaling slowly. She repeated the action, again and again, until she could regain some measure of control over herself. The calm, peaceful image projected in her mind's eye had helped tremendously: she could picture herself smiling at the horizon, breathing in the brackish scent of the sea, feeling the wind in her hai—

"Okay, so… when I suggested we play pirates, this wasn't exactly what I meant."

Yoruichi let out a groan, crawling out from under the table and glaring at the owner of the offending voice. "Dammit, Kisuke, I was having a _moment_!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did my protest for my _lack_ of participation in our _joint_ game ruin _your_ fun?"

Sighing, Yoruichi stood up to her feet and wiped the dust off the brown cotton breeches and white shirt she was wearing. She adjusted the mutilated pillowcase that served as her pirate bandana and approached Kisuke, wakizashi in hand.

It had been over three hours ago that he'd showed up to her apartment for their scheduled Kidou lesson. As they'd waited for their new instructor, speculating on what they might be like or what material they were going to cover, Ms. Fujiwara had shown up to inform them that their lesson was going to be delayed for a few hours. She had given no explanation as to why, not even when directly asked. Normally, this would have been excellent news, but given the torrential rain that had been pelting Soul Society all day, they'd had no choice but to stay indoors, where their options were severely limited. Before leaving Yoruichi's quarters, Ms. Fujiwara had suggested they use the spare time to catch up on their homework. Kisuke and Yoruichi had been courteous enough to wait until she was well out of earshot before they burst into laughter.

At first, their enthusiasm over the prospect of a couple of lesson-free hours had been abundant. However, as they brainstormed over what they should occupy themselves with and saw their list of preferred games dwindling to nothing, all excitement had suddenly flown out the window. They'd spent nearly half an hour sprawled over Yoruichi's pillows in the study, staring at the grey, rainy sky outside forlornly. Bored out of her mind, Yoruichi had only half-heartedly suggested they play one of her favorite games: explorers. The only problem was that they'd already covered every inch of her apartment in past games and there wasn't really anything new to 'explore.' Still, it was better than nothing, and they'd started by pitching their make-believe tent, using one of Yoruichi's blankets.

It was then that inspiration struck Kisuke, and he proposed they build the biggest tent they could make. Five blankets, six kimonos and seven sheets later, Yoruichi's room was near-unrecognizable. The blanket tent was no longer much of a tent, but more like a blanket fortress, covering almost half of the living room area. The only question was what they were going to use it for. Knights? Lack of proper attire and weaponry: the only available sword of any kind in Yoruichi's room was a ceremonial wakizashi. Invaders? Fun enough, but what _kind_ of invaders? Pirates?

Yoruichi's eyes had shone with excitement at the idea. Being a citizen of Soul Society meant that the only experience she had with the sea was through textbooks. There were no seas in their world; those were the distinct privilege of the living, but the notion had always fascinated Yoruichi. A giant, saltwater lake that went on for hundreds of miles in each direction? She couldn't even picture it as a visual, let alone imagine what it might smell or taste like. The 'brackish scent' turn of phrase was something she'd picked up from a human novel, and she had no idea what it actually meant, only that it was supposedly an apt description of what the sea smelled like.

Overcome with ideas for their game, Yoruichi had insisted they _had_ to get it right, and that meant proper costumes and a solid background story. The breeches and shirts were Kisuke's; he'd worn them so rarely as a younger child that he had almost forgotten he'd owned them, and while they were a little snug, they did fit. They'd scoured her own closet as well, looking for anything they could use in their elaborate game. With their costumes ready and their backstory developed, they had set about playing their newly conceived game. Yoruichi had been having the time of her life, up until Kisuke had so rudely interrupted her inner monologue with his complaints.

"What is it, then?" she said, coming to a stop in front of him.

"Like I said," he repeated. "When I suggested we play pirates, this wasn't what I meant."

"I am a pirate," Yoruichi said, indicating her attire. All right, so perhaps the wakizashi wasn't culturally appropriate, but it was the only weapon they had, so it would have to do. "And I'm taking over a fort. What's confusing you?"

Standing with his back pressed against the stone pillar in the middle of the room, arms tied around it, Kisuke glared at her. "I'm dressed in your mother's kimono. Wearing lip stain. Doesn't scream pirate to me."

Yoruichi rolled her eyes, sighing. It was exhausting, having to do all of the serious work in the acting portion of their game. All he'd had to do was stay quiet for a few minutes until she made her grand entrance, and he had to go and ruin it by being impatient. "You _said_ one of us should be the dunder," she said.

"Damsel."

"Yes, that. Whatever. The prisoner."

"…I had different casting in mind."

When they'd been raiding her closet for an outfit they could use in their game, they'd had a laugh as they took it in turns to model her mother's kimonos. They were all exquisite, worn only once in the past from one of her mother's female ancestors, and were meant to be worn by Yoruichi herself on her coming-of-age day as per the tradition in her mother's family. The soft, slate grey one embroidered with cherry blossoms had always been Yoruichi's favorite, but her mother insisted it didn't work with her coloring. It did work with Kisuke's, however, and since one of them was going to end up in a kimono, she'd figured it might as well be him.

Being a big baby about it, he had protested when she tied him up against the stone pillar and put a few finishing touches on the damsel in question, but really, he was pulling it off beautifully. With his naturally pale skin and red-tinted lips, hair pulled up in a bun, he was the perfect picture of a lady. Admittedly, the bun was a bit of a disaster since he didn't have long enough hair for it, so it was more of a messy ponytail, but the rest of the visual was great. He looked prettier than most of the girls in court, in fact, and she'd made sure to tell him as much.

But of course, he was still displeased, even after all her hard work, because he'd obviously assumed _he_ would get to play the part of the pirate. Yoruichi glared at him, taking a few steps closer until their faces were nearly an inch apart. "Oh? Are you saying I should've been the prisoner because I'm a _girl_?"

Some of Kisuke's anger seemed to dissipate at her question, only to be replaced by uneasiness. "Well… Damsel _literally_ means young girl," he said. "I couldn't _physically_ be a damsel if I wanted to."

Narrowing her eyes, Yoruichi let her sword arm slip between them, a smirk on her lips. "That can be arranged."

"Okay, OKAY!" Kisuke hurried to say, eyes bulging, pushing his body as far back as it would go from her. "I'll be the damsel!"

"Because…?"

He let out a sigh. "Because you're stronger," he said in monotone.

"And?"

Turning away from her, a deep blush setting on his cheeks, he murmured, "And I look prettier in this kimono."

"Good," Yoruichi said, resting her weapon on her shoulder and giving him a toothy grin. "Now be a good damsel and cry for help."

The blush spreading to the rest of his face, Kisuke looked up at her again. "I will not," he said, his jaw set.

"You just said you'd be the damsel."

"And I would prefer to be the silent, stoic type. Resigned to my fate and all that."

"That's not what we agreed!"

"I didn't agree to _any_ of this!"

"You weren't complaining when I was making you up!"

"YOU PUT A SOCK IN MY MOUTH!"

Yoruichi was nearing the limit to her patience. This was easily one of the best ideas for an indoors game they'd ever had, and it was quickly getting derailed for something as ridiculous as casting. Her nostrils flaring, she held her wakizashi out right under Kisuke's chin. "PIRATE LORD YORUICHI GROWS IMPATIENT OF YOUR PRATTLING!"

Pursing his lips and closing his eyes, Kisuke took in a deep breath, as though steeling himself for something particularly unpleasant. When he opened his eyes again, he was still glaring at her, but at the same time, he appeared to have _finally_ decided to go with the flow of the game. "OKAY, _FINE_," he growled at her. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

It was at that precise moment that the door of Yoruichi's apartment was wrenched open, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. Both Kisuke and Yoruichi turned towards the noise in unison, but their vision of the door was blocked by the blanket fort they'd built around the living room.

"Huh. That usually never works," Kisuke muttered.

A slim hand slipped in through a slit between two blankets, and as they were pulled apart, Yoruichi and Kisuke were greeted by the sight of Ms. Fujiwara, her eyes wide and fearful. Behind her, a tall, muscular young man was holding his hand out, a lethal-looking sphere of blue energy hovering over his palm. Ms. Fujiwara looked as though she was about to say something, but when she took in the scene, her eyes became even wider, if such a thing was possible, her jaw falling slack. The tall man arched an eyebrow at the sight, then flicked his wrist once and the sphere of energy evaporated with a soft hiss.

It occurred to Yoruichi that perhaps holding Kisuke at sword-point wasn't the best of ideas at the moment, and she lowered her arm instantly.

"So… which one of you is Princess Yoruichi?" the tall man asked.

Without even pausing to think, Yoruichi pointed at Kisuke.

"I AM NOT."

Ms. Fujiwara closed her mouth, glaring at the man in disapproval, then at Yoruichi, before her eyes settled on Kisuke and her expression turned to a mixture of despair and disbelief. "I-is that… Lady Shihouin's ceremonial kimono?" she said faintly.

"Doesn't it _totally_ match his eyes?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Ms. Fujiwara let out a long-drawn sigh. "Kisuke, I expected better of you."

"My hands are tied!" he said, wriggling his fingers. "_Literally_!"

"Enough," Ms. Fujiwara said, holding up one palm. "This is what is going to happen: Instructor Tsukabishi and I will be taking a short walk around the gardens. In fifteen minutes, when we shall return, this room is going to be back to normal, and the two of you will be _properly_ dressed and ready to begin your lesson. Do I make myself clear?" she said, her voice sharp and unwavering. It was the tone she always used when one of her students misbehaved, and with good reason; it was as extremely effective tool of intimidation.

_So much for the pirate adventure,_ Yoruichi thought, frowning. Still, this was no time to protest. Ms. Fujiwara was not to be taken lightly when the vein in her temple was throbbing as much as it was right now. Yoruichi nodded, eyes downcast, and mumbled, "Yes, Ms. Fujiwara," almost in tandem with Kisuke.

Once the two adults left the room, Yoruichi helped Kisuke out of his bindings. "So… next time maybe we _both_ play pirates?" she suggested, as he stood across her, rubbing his sore wrists.

"_Yes, please_," Kisuke said, yanking the hairtie that was holding his bun up and running the back of his palm over his lips. "All right, we'd better get to it," he said, looking a little sad at the prospect of taking down the beautiful fort they'd spent so long building.

It was truly incredible what one could get accomplished in fifteen minutes under the threat of detention. Ms. Fujiwara hadn't actually uttered the word, but neither Kisuke nor Yoruichi were under any delusions about what would happen should they fail to follow her instructions. Within twelve minutes, they had both changed back to their everyday kimonos, and the materials making up their fort had been stripped down and stuffed back into Yoruichi's chests and drawers haphazardly. Kisuke had promised to stay behind and help her fold them properly after the lesson. The remaining three minutes were spent with Kisuke struggling to remove all vestiges of his crimson lip stain, as Yoruichi held up a hand mirror and tried not to cackle… too loudly. Eventually, she decided to stop torturing him and took over, grabbing hold on his chin and wiping the lip stain off with a piece of cloth dipped in unscented oil.

"Done," she said, tossing the used cloth on the vanity. "Completely make-up free now. Back to your _manly_ self."

Kisuke gave her an only half-hearted glare and stepped out of her bedroom, making his way over to the study. As they took their seats by her desk, he still looked a little bitter about the elaborate prank she had pulled on him, but he did admit that it wasn't fair for him to expect her to play the less action-packed roles in their games.

"I never actually said you can't do the saving," Kisuke said, dipping his hand into the small bowl of sweets on the desk. "I'd just prefer to be wearing my own clothes when that happens," he said, tossing the piece of candy over to her.

Yoruichi caught it in her mouth and rolled it around her tongue a couple of times before speaking. "Fine, fine, whatever. That's four," she said, reaching into the bowl next and tossing a sweet at him.

Kisuke dove to the left just as the door opened once more. The sudden noise seemed to startle him for just a fraction of a moment, and the piece of candy bounced against his cheek, falling onto the floor.

"Four to three," Yoruichi whispered at him, holding one hand up into a victory sign.

"That doesn't count!" Kisuke whispered back. "I was distr—"

"Well, well, I see you took my words to heart," Ms. Fujiwara said, her eyes sweeping the room carefully as she entered. The man who had been accompanying her before stepped inside behind her.

Yoruichi and Kisuke stood up in front of the desk, both staring at the newcomer curiously. Given the circumstances before, Yoruichi hadn't had a chance to observe the man who was going to be their instructor. The first thing one noticed about the dark-haired man, was that he was extremely tall. Though his face was quite youthful-looking, his body was solidly built, which was probably why she had first mistaken him for an adult. Upon closer examination, she realized that their future instructor was likely underage. Her first reaction to that realization was surprise that her father would ever even consider someone so young for the position. She had to admit, the overall effect of his unexpected age and striking presence left her a little intimidated. There was a sharp, intelligent pair of dark brown eyes peering down at her behind the spectacles he wore.

"Children, I'd like you to meet Tsukabishi Tessai," Ms. Fujiwara said, motioning at the man with her hand. "He graduated from the Shin'ou Academy just this April with honors, and has already been accepted into the Kidou Corps."

"I thought there was an age restriction for entering the Kidou Corps," Kisuke said, eyeing their instructor with interest.

"That would be Urahara Kisuke," Ms. Fujiwara told Instructor Tsukabishi. "A _normally_ well-manner boy who seems to have forgotten himself."

Kisuke's shoulders tensed up for a split second, before he bent into a bow. "My apologies, Instructor Tsukabishi, Ms. Fujiwara. Very pleased to meet you, Instructor," he said.

"No apology needed, Lord Urahara," the instructor said in his deep, baritone voice, giving him a curt bow.

"And this is Princess Shihouin Yoruichi," Ms. Fujiwara said, pointing at Yoruichi next.

Yoruichi watched as the instructor dipped into a low bow, his long, straight ponytail swinging to the side. "I am honored to make your acquaintance, Princess Yoruichi," he said.

"Likewise, instructor," she said, giving him a nod.

"I'll leave you to it, then. Have a good first lesson," Ms. Fujiwara said, then sauntered over to the door, closing it behind her.

The departure was followed by a moment of ringing silence, all three of them sizing up one another. Instructor Tsukabishi was the first to break the cycle, clearing his throat and motioning toward Yoruichi's desk. "Shall we?" he said. "I was told by Ms. Fujiwara that there would be tea served soon, so we can take a few moments to get better acquainted before we begin our lesson."

Kisuke and Yoruichi followed him, sitting on either side of the desk while the instructor took the seat at the head. As he repeated the personal information Ms. Fujiwara had already shared, also revealing that he was, in fact, only one hundred and sixty seven, a servant entered Yoruichi's quarters, serving them all tea and leaving behind a plate of red bean filled manju.

"… so I will be spending a few years in Lord Shihouin's service," Instructor Tsukabishi said. "Until I have reached my two hundredth year of age. You were right," he added, turning to Kisuke. "There _is_ an age restriction for actual attendance, but acceptance into the corps can be granted earlier, in cases where the candidate either applies early or is scouted."

There was something to the story that wasn't quite ringing true to Yoruichi. If Kisuke said there was an age restriction to enter the Kidou Corps then it must be true, but would such a talented man honestly spend the next thirty odd years in her father's service, teaching two complete novices? It was a complete waste of his most productive years. Yoruichi knew her father well enough; he liked to be surrounded by the best and brightest, but it wasn't for reasons of vanity alone. Every outsider invited into their home and pledged to serve their house was, in one way or another, a useful asset for her father's many affairs and ventures. Normally, all Kidou masters scouted by her father's associates were assigned to work at the Shihouin Vault, where all the family inventions were built and tested. Why would he recruit such a man, only to lose him in a few decades to the Kidou Corps?

Yoruichi shared a furtive look with Kisuke as the instructor finished his story. She couldn't tell what he was frowning about exactly, but if she had to guess, she'd say they were thinking along the same lines. He raised his eyebrows at her and Yoruichi gave him a discreet nod. They had to find out, one way or another.

"Now then," Instructor Tsukabishi said. "Your previous master, Instructor Matou, gave me detailed reports on your progress so far. He spoke very highly of you both, especially noting Lord Urahara's creativity and your impeccable control of spirit particles, Princess Yoruichi," he said. "As such, I expect to see great things from you two, but let me be clear up front: natural talent will only take you so far. My lessons will be challenging and unless you work hard, you _will_ fall behind sooner or later. Understood?"

"Yes, Instructor," they both said in unison.

"Very well. Let us—"

"Instructor Tsukabishi?" Kisuke said, a little timidly.

_Ooooh, he's using the goody-two-shoes voice. Excellent._

"I apologize for the interruption," Kisuke went on, bringing in the doe eyes for good measure. "May I ask a question before we proceed?"

"Of course, Lord Urahara."

"Well, you see, my mother is a councilwoman to Lord Shihouin," Kisuke began. "She was recruited, much like you were, only a few months ago. At our welcoming ceremony, she was asked to pledge her loyalty to House Shihouin and take her vows. Was it the same for you?"

"More or less," the instructor said. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that… I was under the impression that oath was for life," Kisuke said. "You said you were going to join the Kidou Corps in thirty three years, but their rulebook strictly forbids contact with the Thirteen Divisions or any other Soul Society organization unless authorized by Central 46, so wouldn't that essentially amount to dereliction of your duties to your Lord?"

Instructor Tsukabishi looked more than a little taken aback at Kisuke's words. Yoruichi didn't know if he was more impressed by the observation, the choice of words, or the fact that he had read the Kidou Corps rulebook. Probably a bit of all three. "Er, well…" he said, suddenly looking his age as a glimmer of anxiety flitted in his eyes. "Special exceptions have always been made for House Shihouin; that is no secret."

It was the perfect moment to enter the fray. Once Kisuke had managed to make him a little flustered, his reaction to a direct question should tell them more than enough. "So you'll keep working at the Vault after your official induction, instructor?" Yoruichi asked.

"Ye— Hold on, I never said I would be—" the instructor said, now looking positively alarmed. He closed his mouth, clearing his throat loudly and assumed a dignified expression. "I think we should be getting back to—"

"Oh? I thought that's what you were recruited for in the first place, sir," Kisuke said. "I mean… none of our other instructors graduated from the academy that young, nor did any of them immediately receive offers to become seated officers of a division."

"How do you—? Whoever said anything about a seated—?"

"But you'd have to be, wouldn't you, instructor?" Yoruichi piled on. "Normally, academy graduates are assigned to a division after application, so…"

"…If you were _scouted_, wouldn't that mean you were likely to be presented with an officer's position?" Kisuke finished for her.

Instructor Tsukabishi stared at them both over the rim of his glasses, his jaw set. "I never said I was scouted," he said. His voice had returned back to its normal calm and authoritative tone, but Yoruichi was pleased to see there were a few beads of sweat shining under his hairline. They'd gotten to him, which meant that her intuition had been right: their new instructor was hiding something.

"My apologies, I simply assumed as much, instructor," Kisuke said, turning back on the beatific teacher's pet charm.

"Yes, well… If we could get back to the matter at hand," Instructor Tsukabishi said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Today, we are going to be—"

"But wait, instructor—" Yoruichi began.

"All right, this has gone on long enough," the instructor said, setting down his teacup with a thud. "I do not know what kind of stunt you're trying to pull here, but it stops now. No more questions that do not pertain to the material we shall cover in class," he said, glancing to each of them in turn as he spoke.

"Well… Technically, since we haven't had a lesson yet," Kisuke said. "And thus have no frame of reference for what our material might be, isn't _every_ topic relevant? Philosophically speaking."

Instructor Tsukabishi suddenly looked as though he would much rather be anywhere else in the world but in this room. Rubbing his right temple with a pair of fingers, he fell silent, possibly considering how to proceed next. After a minute or so of quiet contemplation, he stood up, turning to Yoruichi. "Princess Yoruichi, may I use your restroom, please?" he asked.

"Of course, sir," Yoruichi said, pointing at the door right by her bedroom.

"When I return, we will begin our lesson and there will be no more chicanery. Is that clear?" Instructor Tsukabishi said, a tone of finality in his voice.

As fun as it had been, trying to get a reaction out of him, Yoruichi sensed that it wouldn't be prudent to push him any further today. "Yes, instructor," she said, Kisuke nodding alongside her. She waited until the older man disappeared behind the restroom door, before letting out a snort and turning to Kisuke. "I think you broke him with that last one," she said. Through the closed door, she could hear the sound of splashing water. It wasn't a stretch to picture their instructor was having a quick wash to cool down.

Kisuke let out a chuckle. "Enough for today?" he asked, apparently in agreement with her.

"Yeaaaah, we don't wanna take it too far," she said. "Besides, it's not like we learned much of anything."

"True enough. So… thoughts?" he asked, folding his arms on the desk.

"Well… Father _has_ been recruiting a lot of Kidou masters lately," Yoruichi said, resting her chin on her balled fist. "Normally, there's only, like, twenty researchers working down at the Vault. There must be close to _thirty_ right now."

"Hmmm…."

"Hey, isn't your mom a pretty good Kidou user?" Yoruichi asked, a thought occurring to her.

"Everyone always said so," Kisuke said, shrugging. "I haven't actually seen her perform anything too complicated, but she's very knowledgeable when it comes to the theory. Why?"

"When your mom was offered a position here, I remember people were talking about it," she explained. After Councilman Ito's death, she recalled the estate had been abuzz with predictions over the candidates for weeks. Kisuke's mother's name hadn't come up until the last few days before the official invite, and in the few times it had, it wasn't associated with her father's council. "Mostly because they were surprised she was given a seat on the council; everyone thought she was being recruited as a researcher because of her Kidou skills."

"Huh… I didn't know that," Kisuke said, forehead creasing at the new piece of information. "Not sure how it could be related, though, since she didn't end up getting assigned to the Vault. I guess we don't have much to work with, do we? Just that your father is recruiting more kidou practitioners. If it's not for research, it would have to be a big project, something that requires a lot of combined spiritual power. Maybe that's why—"

Yoruichi cut him off abruptly, giving him a sharp nudge with her elbow as the restroom door opened, and Instructor Tsukabishi reemerged, looking considerably more held together than he had before. He made his way back to the desk, looking at them both with a mixture of determination and wariness.

"Now, then," he said, arms crossed in front of his wide chest. "Shall we begin?"

.

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.

_**DECEMBER 31**__**ST**__**, 240 B.H.I., SHIHOUIN CLAN ANCESTRAL CASTLE, COURT OF PURE SOULS**_

.

"Lovely strokes, Tomiko," Ms. Fujiwara said, as she sauntered over the desks of her students, observing and critiquing their work.

Kisuke grimaced at the mess of ink on his tanzaku. The beautiful, delicate piece of paper made his questionable penmanship look even worse in comparison.

"Remember, children," Ms. Fujiwara said, coming to a stop one desk away from Kisuke. "The Founding Day of the Shihouin clan is an important celebration. Just because you get a break from your studies doesn't mean you don't have to try your best. I expect to see the results of your calligraphy lessons here today. If you feel your work has been unsatisfactory, please choose a new tanzaku and start over."

Looking at the small pile of already ruined tanzaku on his desk, Kisuke let out a sigh. Barely ten o' clock in the morning and this was already shaping up to be an awful day. Grumbling, he turned back to his work, trying to gauge if it was salvageable in any way, when he heard footsteps behind him. His shoulders tensed up and he readied himself for a lecture from Ms. Fujiwara. He held his breath as she bent down next to his workspace to peer at his latest attempt, looking at the mutilated tanzaku over the rim of her spectacles.

Her lips curled, nose scrunching up, but she had no comment for him. Instead, she cast a quick look at the rest of the class and then turned to him. "Where is she?"

There was no need to ask who 'she' was; Yoruichi hadn't shown up for class this morning. Though she more than often made her opinion clear when it came to work she found unnecessary, it was uncharacteristic of her to skip lessons. If she was feeling ill or was otherwise indisposed, Ms. Fujiwara would have certainly been informed. Kisuke had noticed Yoruichi had been acting strangely for days now, but hadn't pressed her for an explanation. He had asked once or twice, but she'd simply said she was feeling a little under the weather and that it was nothing to worry about. It hadn't been a very convincing lie, but he'd figured she would tell him the truth when she felt ready.

"I don't know," Kisuke whispered to Ms. Fujiwara.

"You're not lying, are you, Kisuke?"

"No, ma'am," he said, shaking his head. "I honestly don't know."

Ms. Fujiwara removed her spectacles and pinched the bridge of her nose, taking in a deep, calming breath. It looked like she wasn't having a particularly good day, herself.

The celebration of the Shihouin clan's founding day was, in many ways, the most important event of the year in the castle. It was a holiday meant to commemorate the end of hostilities between the once warring branches of the family. Centuries ago, on the night of December 31st, the four brothers had put aside their former rivalry and became a united front, changing the family name to its current version, their new crest reflecting their reconciliation; four maple leaves and a crescent moon to symbolize a new beginning. Kisuke had known of the story even before hearing the details in Ms. Fujiwara's history lesson a week ago. As a minor retainer of the Shihouins, the Urahara clan had been one of the many similar families expected to pay their respects on this day and renew their pledge of fealty to the de facto regional Lords. For most of the northwest of the Court of Pure Souls, this was a day filled with pageantry and intense competition between the minor clans to get in the Lord's good favors through lavish gifts.

Having now witnessed the preparations from the other side, Kisuke could see that the castle staff was under an equal, if not greater, amount of pressure. Ms. Fujiwara's part, although small, was important enough to merit her rising panic levels. Aside from trying to herd a group of children too distracted by the day's excitement to bother with calligraphy, she was in charge of tutoring Yoruichi for the short dance she was meant to perform for the opening of the ceremony. Yoruichi hadn't needed a lot of help before she had the dance down perfectly, but today was meant to be her second and final dress rehearsal. And she was nowhere to be found.

Despite her strictness, Ms. Fujiwara had been kind and fair to him from day one, which made Kisuke inclined to help her out. He had a good idea of where Yoruichi was hiding, and he had half a mind to tell Ms. Fujiwara he would gladly go look for her, when he realized this was a golden opportunity to help himself out, too. He felt a little guilty for taking advantage of the long-suffering teacher, but then he remembered how much he loathed calligraphy and all traces of guilt effectively vanished.

"Don't worry, Ms. Fujiwara," he whispered to her. "If Lady Yoruichi doesn't show up, I can forge a tanzaku to replace hers. And Miss Nakahara can take her place for the dance, can't she?"

The teacher's face went chalk white within nanoseconds. Kisuke was certain she was contemplating which part was worse; his hideous handwriting on _two_ tanzaku instead of one, or Ran Nakahara's tendency to freeze when she forgot or missed a step.

"Oh, give that here," Ms. Fujiwara said suddenly, yanking the tanzaku right out of Kisuke's hands. "I'll write both your wishes, just _find_ her, please," she hissed at him.

_Wow, Ι thought it was going to take longer than that,_ Kisuke thought, trying to stifle a grin that was threatening to make its appearance. "Yes, ma'am," he said, and shot up out of his seat and over to the door. As he closed it behind him, he could hear the groans and shouts of protest from his classmates.

"Not fair!"

"Why does _he_ get to leave?"

Kisuke sped down the hallway, a spring to his step, mentally congratulating himself on a plan well-executed. Zig-zagging through the many servants putting the finishing touches in the estate's decoration, he made it to the broad stone staircase at the entrance.

It was a crisp morning, not quite as cold as the past month had been, but there was enough of a draft to make Kisuke wrap his woolen haori around him a little more tightly as he trotted down the stairs. The last few remnants of snow had melted away, but he still took his time down the pathway leading to the shrine, wary of sleet. Just a week ago, Yoruichi had laughed herself silly when he'd tried to show off his balancing skills in the courtyard, only to find himself with his face planted on the ground after a slip. As he neared the end of the path, he craned his neck toward the bare maple tree by the entrance of the shrine and found his suspicions of Yoruichi's whereabouts confirmed. It was their favorite tree in the castle after all, far enough from the estate to stay away from prying eyes and high enough to offer a more than decent view of the rest of the Court of Pure Souls below.

Still, as far as hiding places went, it wasn't ideal. The naked branches didn't offer much in terms of cover this time of the year and anyone determined to find her wouldn't have had much of an issue. It was an odd choice for a girl who'd once stayed hidden within a suit of armor for hours, waiting for the opportune moment to scare passers-by (namely him) with the disembodied voice of a 'displeased ancestor.' Even more worrying was the fact that she didn't seem to notice anyone approaching. Kisuke came to a stop beneath the tree, looking up at her. The melancholy expression she'd been wearing for days was even more pronounced today as she sat upon a thick branch, her eyes gazing at the distance forlornly.

Kisuke frowned at the sight of her, then set about climbing up the tree. He didn't know whether Yoruichi had pretended not to see him so far, hoping he would leave, or if she truly was that deeply drawn into her own thoughts, but she turned to look at him as he reached the top, her face clouding.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" she said, turning her attention back to the landscape.

Kisuke decided not to dwell on the cold welcome and settled himself a foot away from her. He cleared his throat, breaking into a rather decent –if he said so himself- imitation of Ms. Fujiwara, clipped t's and all. "Princess Yoruichi's absence has been duly noted."

It didn't have the usual effect; Yoruichi simply rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. "Go away, Kisuke."

Seeing that his regular go-to solution of cheering her up wasn't likely to work, he chose to go for earnestness next. "Hey, if it's something serious—" he said, scooting closer to her on the branch.

"It's not, so just leave me alone!"

The sudden harshness in her voice took him by surprise. Though she wasn't the type of person to mince her words, Yoruichi was never truly hostile unless she had very good reason to be. Kisuke found himself at a loss of what to do next and a little hurt by her abruptness. It was obvious that she was seriously troubled by something and while being left alone to deal with it was her wish, he couldn't find it in his heart to abandon her when she clearly needed someone to talk to. It occurred to him that perhaps the problem was that she didn't want to talk to _him_.

"Was it… was it something I did?" he asked, not quite meeting her eyes. _Please say no, please say no. I don't want us to have a fight; what if it's terrible and she doesn't want to talk to me anymore? Did I do something wrong? I don't think I did, I haven't lied to her since then and when I said the other day that she should work on her arithmetic I didn't mean she was stupid –I __**didn't**__!__** I DIDN'T**__!- because she's not, she's amazing and I was going to help her anyway, I wasn't suggesting she do it alone, but what if she thought I did, what if she was offended –You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you- and now she hates me, like Kazuo and Miki, but I never cared about them, they were mean and cruel and she's not, she's funny and smart and brave and kind, and she's never scared of anything, not even when I say weird things and she __**can't**__ stop being my friend, I'll grovel if I have to. _ "If… if it is…" he went on. "I swear, I'll make it up to you."

The tension in Yoruichi's shoulders eased up at the sound of that, prompting him to make a cautious attempt at eye-contact again. Her expression had softened, switching from anger back to misery again. "I'm sorry," she said, and the apology looked and sounded genuine. "It's nothing you did, I just… I can't tell you."

Kisuke felt the panic rising up his throat slowly back off; she wasn't mad at him, after all, it was something irrelevant. Feeling more relieved than he'd ever been in his entire life and bolstered by her apology, Kisuke inched a little closer, now determined to make her feel better if he had to spend all day up in this tree, freezing. "Why not?"

"Because you'll think I'm stupid and spoiled," Yoruichi said, looking down at her knees.

"I would never think that."

"Yes, you would."

"Try me."

Yoruichi let out a sigh, eyes on the white clouds in the sky. She was silent for a long time, but Kisuke didn't pry any harder, letting her gather up the courage to say whatever it was she was so ashamed of. A few times she opened her mouth, but seemed to think better of it and would purse her lips, frowning and diving back into her thoughts again. At long last, with her head hung and her legs swinging nervously, she spoke. "It's… Well… It's my birthday tonight. After midnight."

Kisuke wasn't sure what he had expected to hear, but it certainly wasn't _this_. "Oh," he said, not really knowing what else there was to say to this piece of information. The statistical improbability alone was too dizzying to contemplate. "I didn't know what."

"And… you know…" Yoruichi began, suddenly looking both apologetic and frustrated at once. "It's not like I'd ask for anything big. But today is never _my_ birthday, it's the _clan's_ founding day and I only get, like… a treat and a mention, _sometimes, _but that's it. And I know it's more than other kids have, I _know_ that, it's just… It would be nice to have a whole day to celebrate, but... Everyone always forgets. Or doesn't care."

Having known Yoruichi for nearly a year now, Kisuke could fully appreciate the fact that what she'd just shared with him had not been an easy confession to make. Yoruichi had been taught to reject weakness, or whatever was perceived as weakness, since she was born. He hadn't heard her complain, not even once in all those months, unless it was in jest and she refused to let any cracks show on the veneer she struggled to uphold every day. The fact that she was sharing this piece of herself, a piece he could see made her self-conscious, was a sign of the trust she had chosen to place in him.

Though they'd claimed to be friends from the start, it wasn't until this very moment that Kisuke felt truly close to her. Especially because he was all too familiar with how Yoruichi felt. The only difference was that he had always had his mother, whereas Yoruichi's parents, while clearly proud of her, didn't show their affection often, or in ways that were considered common.

"So there, that's it," Yoruichi said, shrugging. "I'm grumpy because I want this day to be aaaaall about me. Go ahead and tell me I'm being a bra—"

"Today is my birthday, too."

Yoruichi's head snapped to the side toward him so fast, he was certain she was going to lose her balance. "What?"

Kisuke gave her a sympathetic smile; it wasn't often he met someone else whose birthday fell on an unfortunate date. "Not on the 1st, like yours, but today, yeah. December 31st."

"Oh. Well… happy birthday."

Kisuke let out a chuckle at that. The look on her face mirrored what must've been his own expression when she'd first mentioned it was her birthday tonight. If the revelation had happened under a different setting, he might've been tempted to work out the actual math behind this revelation, but he didn't think Yoruichi would be up for it. "Thanks," he told her. "You know, since my clan has always been a retainer of the Shihouin clan, I've never had much of a birthday celebration, either. Everyone spends their day paying their respects to your family and all that, and they more or less forget about me. Except for my mom. But she's away this year, so… we're in the same boat."

Yoruichi simply stared at him, the coincidence still clearly startling to her, but there was something else in her eyes, as well. He couldn't quite pinpoint the feeling, but he could tell some of the weight had lifted from her shoulders; she wasn't feeling quite so alone in this anymore and neither was he.

"Hey, at least _your_ birthday can be celebrated tomorrow," Kisuke said, deciding to push his luck and tease her a little in the hopes of improving her mood even more. "_Mine_ always gets caught up in preparations for the big night and there's never any time for it."

"Oh yeah?" Yoruichi said, arching an eyebrow. "Because when everyone is either sleeping till noon, or telling me to be quiet because they have a headache I'm having such a fantastic time, huh?"

"Okay, okay, you win," Kisuke said, holding his hands up in mock defeat. "Your pain is greater than mine."

Yoruichi nodded curtly, a tiny smile etched on her lips. "Thank you," she said, turning her attention back to the glittering sun in the distance.

In the back of his mind, he was conscious of the fact that if he took too long to return with Yoruichi, Ms. Fujiwara would go berserk and come out in search of them –not necessarily in that order. However, he recognized that Yoruichi's need to vent far exceeded the importance of any festival, no matter how high-brow. He wasn't planning on taking her back to class until he was satisfied she truly felt better. The only question was how he was going to achieve that. For the time being, she seemed to be enjoying the view, and though she was still likely blue about her situation, it must've lifted her spirits to know she wasn't the only one feeling this way today.

"There should be, like… a special day for everyone whose birthday sucks," she said. "Like a super-birthday."

Kisuke let out a soft chuckle at her idea. _Wouldn't that be something? _He could picture it, a massive room filled with other children whose birthdays fell close to those of their younger siblings, or holidays like New Year's and Coming of Age Day, all united against the injustice and determined to celebrate as a joint front. It was certainly a fun idea, but if he was being entirely honest, he would much rather spend his birthdays playing tag with Yoruichi, or secretly fishing at the koi pond, or building an even larger blanket fort than the ones they'd constructed in the past. Alright, so perhaps his mother was allowed to show up for a bit, and maybe Tessai if he promised to show them more cool tricks with kidou. Mostly though, he wanted to spend the day with her, and was a little angry at the universe for allowing him to be born so early; his mother had always said he was born close to midnight and he couldn't help but think that if they shared a birthday, it would've been seen as noteworthy enough to make sure people remembered more often.

If only he had taken a little longer, or if she had hurried up. It was a shame to miss out on such an opportunity for a mere few hours. Maybe they could split the difference, make it so—

"Huh," he said out loud, both eyebrows arching sky-high. "Here's a thought: we can celebrate together."

"Hmmm?"

Kisuke's lips twitched upwards; he was liking his sudden flash of inspiration more and more by the second. "Think about it. There's this moment, right after the final few seconds to midnight, when it's simultaneously _both_ our birthdays."

Yoruichi didn't seem to be following his train of thought. "Huh?"

Kisuke turned to her, grinning. "Do a mock countdown for me. Say it's December 31st, five seconds to midnight. Go."

"O… okay," Yoruichi said, clearly puzzled about what he was getting at, but she played along anyway. "Five, four, three, two, one—"

"Okay, stop! Now think about time freezing at this _exact_ moment. What day is it? The 31st, or the 1st?"

Yoruichi blinked a couple of times, staring at a fixed point somewhere in the vicinity of his forehead, but not really looking at him. "It's… both?"

"Exactly," he said, smiling at her.

It took her a few more seconds to really home in on what he was trying to say, but when she did, her face broke into an ear-splitting grin. "All right. Sooo… what?" she said, throwing one leg over the other side of the branch so she was straddling it instead of sitting, and inched closer to him. "We wish each other a happy birthday at the stroke of midnight?"

"We could, if you'd like. Let everyone else celebrate your clan at that moment. Just for a second, it'll be about _us_, instead."

"Oh, OH!" Yoruichi said, arms flailing. "You know what we should do? We should, like, take a few steps away, turn to each other, then make a run for it and do a chestbump when the clock strikes twelve!"

Kisuke laughed at her suggestion, unsure of what made him happier: her sudden change in mood, or the fact that she seemed to love his idea. "I think your parents may have me arrested if I hit you outside of lessons again."

"Wuss," Yoruichi said, sticking her tongue out at him playfully. "Okay, how about a high-five, then?"

"Ehhh…" he said, shrugging.

"Not the stupid high-five _kids_ do, the way grown-ups do it," Yoruichi said, in a tone that implied she expected better of him, that he would think she'd suggest something so childish. "Hold your hand out."

Kisuke did so, raising his arm slightly above his head, palm facing out.

"Lower, like this," Yoruichi said, holding her own arm out right in front of her, elbow bent. "Now reach for my hand and grab it tight."

Once again, Kisuke did as he was told.

"And clench!" she said, holding his hand tight and giving his arm a sharp tug.

It wasn't bad as far as handshakes and the like went, but he was pretty sure her definition was a little off. "I don't think that's called a high-five," he said, but quickly retracted when he saw her brows come together. "Buuuuuut, I like it."

Yoruichi grinned at him. "So it's settled, then?"

"It's settled. Five seconds to midnight, we'll find each other, do the hand… _thing_ and then watch the fireworks together."

Yoruichi now smiled broader than ever. The last few misery-filled days might have never happened, to look at her now; she was positively glowing.

"Come on, let's get to class before Ms. Fujiwara has an aneurysm," Kisuke said, a little sad to put an end to the moment, but he didn't want their current euphoria to end on a bad note by having their apoplectic tutor scream at Yoruichi for her truancy. There was more than enough time to privately gloat at how he had managed to cheer her up later.

They climbed the tree down carefully, Yoruichi doing it far more gracefully and quickly than he did. There was a bounce to her step, he was glad to see, as though the excitement of their secret pact couldn't even be spoiled by class. She looked like was about to rush off to the estate, when she came to a stop, hesitating for a second, her back turned to him. Kisuke was about to ask her what was wrong when she swiveled around and threw her arms around his neck. The act nearly threw him off balance; while he wasn't a complete stranger to her touch, Yoruichi had always been openly disdainful of such flagrant displays of affection. He had long ago come to terms with the fact that having Yoruichi as his friend meant that there would be no sentimental declarations of friendship in their future, but he accepted it as part of who she was; her actions spoke loud and clear, so he had never felt the need for her to verbalize what he already knew she felt.

And yet, much like he had relished hearing her _say_ that she liked him for who he was, he found himself feeling equally humbled by her embrace. If he knew her as well as he thought he did, it wasn't likely to happen again anytime soon, so he willed his rigid joints and limbs to reciprocate as best they could; he was still a little taken aback, after all. As he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, he felt her kiss his cheek for a fraction of a moment. Looking back, he would come to realize that the whole interaction from start to finish had barely lasted three seconds, but to him, it would always feel like a lifetime. Her lips had been cold and slightly chapped, but at that point he was far past caring for such minutiae. His fingers contracted involuntarily and his entire body temperature seemed to rise a good four degrees within the blink of an eye. Before he could wrap his head around what had just happened, Yoruichi slipped out of his slack embrace like an eel, plunging him into a veritable ocean of feelings he had no idea what to make of.

Part of him was relieved she instantly turned around and never made-eye contact; his face must've been a ridiculous crimson mask of confusion, and he would've hated for her to see him in such a state.

"Race you back!" Yoruichi said, running off toward the estate, her long ponytail bouncing behind her back.

Kisuke gave himself a moment until he could make sense of his surroundings again, his hand ghosting over the spot her lips had touched but a moment ago. Shaking his head once as though to get rid of something stuck between his ears, he sprinted off in her wake, his mind still a little abuzz with everything that had just transpired.

That night, even though his mother was absent on Lord Shihouin's business, Kisuke had what was without a doubt the best birthday of his life thus far. Yoruichi's opening dance in the great hall was a sensation; she cast a shadow far greater than her young years under the moonlight, her face painted as pale as the moon itself, contrasting the beautiful crimson hikizuri that flowed along with her graceful movements to the beat of the taiko. When the sound of the drum came to an end and Yoruichi held her final pose, all the lanterns in the hall erupted with light, signaling the start of the festivities. The whole room burst into applause, but no-one clapped harder than Kisuke did, not even Ms. Fujiwara, who looked like the last few minutes had caused her to age a century overnight.

The feast that followed was unlike anything he could have imagined, holding delicacies from every corner of the realm. The festive music that accompanied the dinner lasted all night long, even following the procession that led them all outside to the estate's oldest, most magnificent maple tree for the climax of the evening.

Though the branches were naturally nude, Kisuke could now see the entire tree had been filled with crimson washi folded into perfect replicas of maple leaves. The lowest branches held the only differently colored pieces of paper, the white tanzaku he and his classmates had been working on this morning. Lord Shihouin picked one at random and cast his eyes toward the star-filled sky. It was close to midnight.

Realization dawned on him; he only had seconds to locate Yoruichi and fulfill their pact. Slipping out of Ms. Fujiwara's sight was easier than expected, as everyone's attention was trained on the sky, waiting for the reading of the tanzaku and the magnificent fireworks the Shiba clan was said to always provide for the occasion. As he squeezed through the throng of people, he saw Yoruichi a few feet away doing the same. Kisuke pushed through, reaching out for her hand as Lord Shihouin's last few words were heard in the clearing. Yoruichi grabbed on, pulling him close with a broad smile on her still painted face. As they joined hands, they leaned toward each other and whispered 'Happy birthday' to one another in unison.

The Shiba clan's fireworks ended up being far more spectacular than he had thought possible. Watching the bright red, green and blue sparks blossom into the dark sky was impressive enough on its own, but sharing the experience with a friend, hands clasped together tightly, made it downright magical, Kisuke thought.

For the remainder of his days, even when life's circumstances forced him and Yoruichi apart at that time of the year, all Kisuke had to do was look at the sky on the night of December 31st and he would know that he was not alone.

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><p><strong>AN: **All right, confession time. As most people unfortunate enough to be born close to major holidays will tell you, it can be a pain since the seasonal celebration tends to eclipse anything else. (Btw, they really do have birthdays on the 31st and 1st and there's a very cute omake about it in a New Year's filler episode). The only reason I ever came up with the whole birthday pact thing is because I really liked the visual of those two watching fireworks together on New Year's. I was thinking I was being _soooo_ clever with the whole seconds to midnight thing, before I realized that, hey, Japan didn't always celebrate New Year's according to the Gregorian calendar. For most of its history, Japan celebrated the same time the Chinese do. This only changed in 1873, which would mean that when Kisuke and Yoruichi were children, they would have celebrated New Year's more than a full month later. Cue yours truly breathing into a paper bag.

Even knowing this, I was so attached to the visual already, that I was determined to come up with a way to keep it in the story. This is how the celebration of the founding of the Shihouin clan came to be, so if it sounds a little gimmicky, that's because it totally is, I am well aware. My apologies, but the rule of 'killing your darlings' is a little too hard to uphold at times. Plus, it made me chuckle to think of them commiserating about their rotten luck when New Year's gets moved to January 1st.

In following chapters, I'm going to start skipping a few years forward, since I don't want to this to balloon up into 300 chapters or so. I just felt covering the first year in both timelines was important to set the foundation for what's coming next, and it was also a chance to introduce people like Kuukaku and Tessai into the mix, not to mention baby Kaien. It's also why this chapter is about three times the size of the last one. Generally speaking, my editing skills suck so my chapters tend to be long, but I can't promise a set number or words here as I may feel like ending a chapter on a particular note, or spending some extra time to cover a time period before moving on to the next, like I did this time.

To be perfectly honest, I also wanted to get the really young age bracket out of the way as fast as I could. Coming up with the voices of their six year old selves gave me a lot of trouble, since the whole soul age thing came back into play. Yes, time probably feels much more different to them than a human, but still, imagine covering the material of one school year spread in _ten_. Which they clearly don't, so to me, it makes sense that as spirits with theoretically infinite time on their hands, they are far more knowledgeable than they would be at their respective human age. It's one more of those brain-busters (even worse if you start to think about babies, and Shinigami parents having to change diapers for DECADES) that comes with the way Kubo set up their aging, so I cut myself some slack here and decided to have them sound a lot more mature than human six-year olds might be. It's easier to do with Kisuke, what with him being a genius and all, but I'm struggling with Yoruichi's voice. She's supposed to have a distinct tone, basically speaking much like an old man would, and I'm still working out the kinks in future scenes. I figured it could've been something she developed over the years, so I gave myself a pass on this while she's still a kid.


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